A Scorching Journey
by District DivergentPotterhead
Summary: SEQUEL to The Sunshiney Brain. Ellie and the Gladers have escaped the Maze and think they have found safety. Ellie and Minho have found their way back to each other. Thomas remembers his little sister and will do anything to protect her. Newt is the glue that continues to hold everyone together. What could possibly go wrong? Follow the Gladers as they enter The Scorch Trials!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hi everyone! Welcome to part 2 of my story! The first part was called** ** _The Sunshiney Brain_** **and told the story of my character Ellie and her journey at WICKED and in the Maze. I hope you all enjoy the continuation. Please review so I know what you guys like to see and so I can write more of that!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Maze Runner**

Ellie, Minho, Newt and Thomas sat around the dormitory floor. Teresa was there too but she was oddly quiet. Ellie kept her distrust for the girl to herself, not wanting to cause any problems for the group on their first official night all together again. They were all still trying to process what had happened earlier that day. The boys had escaped the Maze and Ellie had finally been reunited with them. She and Minho had talked and were back to the way things were prior to their fight.

Also, Ellie was able to take her arm brace off because she realized it was no use leaving it on if the only reason it was in pain from time to time was because of an injection courtesy of WICKED.

It was getting late and everyone was getting tired. Teresa was the first to yawn and stand up.

"Well, I'm exhausted. Goodnight. I'll be in my designated room," she said without sparing a glance at the others as she walked towards a door that had her name on it.

Ellie stared after her wondering why she was separated from the boys because that clearly hadn't been an issue in the Glade. She decided to shrug it off for the time being and looked at the boys still sitting with her.

"Where do you guys sleep? I know I'm back in my old room," Ellie said sadly. She really hated having to stay in her childhood room. It gave her unpleasant memories and reminded her that WICKED was still trying to manipulate her. The fact that they put her old maps and paperwork for the Grievers and BeetleBlades on her desk irritated her beyond belief but she couldn't exactly talk about it. She absent-mindedly rubbed her arm. Ellie had been careful not to mention anything she thought would trigger WICKED to send pain into her arm but she knew she had to tell Min, Newt and Thomas somehow.

"We all have bunkbeds." Min said with a smirk in Thomas' direction.

Ellie raised her eyebrows at them in question.

Thomas glared at Minho and explained, "Last night when we all got here, Minho jumped onto the top bunk before I could so I'm stuck on the bottom bunk."

Newt clapped a hand on his back, "It's alright Tommy. Be glad it's only Minho and not one of the other shanks who ate too much bloody pizza last night."

The group laughed at that and then stood up. Ellie looked at them all to say goodbye and goodnight but Minho stopped her.

"No," He said firmly.

"Huh?" Ellie asked confused. She looked and saw Newt and Thomas were just as confused.

"Now that we've made up, you and Thomas have made up, and you are here with us, I am not letting you out of my sight again." Min said grabbing her arm and pulling her with the boys towards their dorm.

"What? Min, I can't exactly obey the orders I was given." Ellie says wincing as her arm starts to throb. It dawns on her that she could always just go to her room for a pen and paper to write down everything that happened for Min.

She looks at them all enthusiastically and grabs Minho's arm deciding to bring him with her to her room. He gives her a pointed look but she pulls his arm and drags him down the hall into her bedroom.

"I have to tell you something but I can't say it so bear with me while I write it!" Ellie says once they get in her room. Minho shrugs and starts to look around.

Pulling a piece of paper off her desk, Ellie starts to write while Minho starts to pack up her backpack with extra clothes and Mr. Fluffy Cuddles, her teddy bear. Ellie smiles at him while he isn't looking, grateful to be back with him. He knows just what she needs. She shakes her head and then continues to write.

The note reads: _Creators injected arm with pain thingy that shoots, well, pain in my arm if I try to talk about what I know. They don't want me telling you all about their plans, (their being WICKED). All I know is there's a second trial starting soon and there's a second group of all girls. Beyond that, I'm pretty clueless but I can't mention WICKED or my orders without a blinding pain shooting up my arm. Also, don't trust Teresa. She has memories and is a shuckface._

Ellie quickly read it over once and then nodded handing it over to Minho who took the note and read it. Ellie stood by his side and nervously watched his reactions. She saw him get furious but then he nodded in understanding. He ripped up the paper and put it in the garbage by her desk so no one else would read it. When he was finished, he walked towards her.

"Thank you for telling me, El. I never did like Teresa anyways. And I know Newt doesn't either." Minho said pulling her into a hug.

"I promised I would be open with you. Thanks for being understanding and giving me a second chance, Min. Really, I don't think I would've been able to handle if you had never wanted to talk to me again." Ellie said looking up at him. Her green-brown hazel eyes wide with honesty and love.

Minho smiled and bent his head down to briefly kiss her, "I don't think I ever could stop talking to you. Now, come on. We should get back to the slintheads. I packed your backpack with clothes, Mr. Fluffy Cuddles, and some other essentials I thought you would need. You're sleeping with us."

Ellie nodded and quietly made her way into the hall to check that no one was there. When she saw the coast was clear, she gestured for Min to join her and then they ran into the dormitory. Once inside the dorm, Minho guided her towards the bedroom.

"Come on, we all sleep in here." He said opening the door.

When they got inside all the other Gladers looked up and smiled.

"Ellie's back!"

"Hey, Ellie!"

Minho rolled his eyes, "Yes, yes. The Shebean is back. She's gonna stay here. Anyone got a problem with that?"

No one argued as Minho led her to a bunk bed. Some of the Gladers gave them smirks but after a glare from Minho they all shut up and redirected their attention.

When they got to a bunk bed, Minho threw her backpack up to the top bunk and she gave him a look. However, before she could talk, Thomas stormed over from where he was talking with Newt at the bunk opposite this one.

"No, absolutely not." Thomas said moving to stand in front of the bunk.

Minho gave him a challenging look, "No what Thomas?"

"She will not be sleeping with you. Especially not when I'm in the bunk underneath! That's just," Thomas cut off and shuddered.

"Seriously Thomas?" Minho raised an amused eyebrow, "She needs to sleep somewhere."

Thomas looks around and realizes all the beds are taken.

"Unless, you're willing to give up your bed." Minho says with an evil grin at Thomas.

"And where would I sleep?" Thomas asks completely dumbfounded walking directly into Minho's trap.

Minho looks at him with that same grin, "Oh, I don't know. I'm sure there's a certain someone who wouldn't mind sharing a proper bed with you." Minho says with extra emphasis and a fake accent on the word proper.

Thomas immediately blushes at that and Ellie starts giggling. Newt, who had been sitting on his bottom bunk that was directly across from Thomas and Minho's, got up and joined the trio. He had been trying to not eavesdrop and succeeded. But, seeing Thomas blush and hearing Ellie giggle made him realize maybe he should see what was going on.

"What's happening?" Newt asks looking between them all.

Minho gave him a look of innocence, "This shank was just saying that Ellie could not share a bed with me so I told him she could then take his bed," Minho paused, "or yours."

Newt blushed and stuttered, "Why, uh, why would she take mine?"

Minho amped up the sarcastically innocent look, "Why, because you and Tommy would share of course."

Both Thomas and Newt blushed deeper and Ellie giggled even more. She decided to put her brother and friend out of their misery.

"Thomas, relax. It's not a big deal." Ellie said putting a hand on his shoulder, "I almost miss when you forgot you were my brother and weren't so protective." She whispered earning a glare from Thomas and grins from Newt and Min.

She looked between them and smiled sweetly, "What, too soon?"

Thomas rolled his eyes and sat on his bed, arms crossed.

Ellie sighed and sat next to him, "Tommy, if it's that big of a deal to you then I'll go sleep in my room."

Newt and Minho simultaneously shout, "No!"

Thomas looks shocked at Newt, "Et tu, Newt?"

Newt chuckles and shrugs, "I mean, they've shared a bed before in the Glade when I was in the room. They literally hate PDA so you know nothing will happen. I think it's better she's in here with us than alone."

Minho smirks, "Besides, what did you think was gonna happen ya shuckface? I am all about privacy. Special moments are meant to be between just us. I wouldn't do anything too too risky in this room. Especially with her brother sleeping beneath us."

Ellie slaps Minho's arm while blushing a deep red. Newt snickers and Thomas pales immediately.

"Ignore Min! He's joking, Thomas and like Newt said we hate PDA." Ellie says shooting Minho a look which causes him to wink at her.

"Fine, fine. I'll stop being the overprotective brother. But, I swear man, remember I am in the bunk below you!" Thomas says trying to look threatening but not really succeeding.

Minho smirks, "Oh I know. But, I could say the same to you. Remember your baby sister will be sleeping in the same room as you now. She'll know if you get up to any funny business." Minho winks at Thomas and Newt.

Ellie covers her ears, "Oh gross! Please spare me the nightmares of my brother."

Minho laughs at the groups discomfort and leans nonchalantly against the bed railing.

Thomas grins at Ellie, "And now you know how I feel."

Ellie sticks her tongue at him and he rolls his eyes. Ellie can't help but feel happy that the two of them are back to the goofy bickering siblings they've always been.

"Now if you two children are done, I need some sleep. So up ya go Shebean." Min says picking Ellie up and placing her on the top bunk.

Ellie swings her head down and smiles at Thomas and finds that Newt has sat beside him.

"Goodnight Thomas! Goodnight Newt!" Ellie says blowing them both a kiss from her upside-down position.

They both say goodnight back. Ellie makes herself comfortable on the bed while she hears Min talking to Thomas and Newt.

"Goodnight you two. Don't forget, we can see everything from a top bunk. Especially when Newt's bed is directly across from ours." Minho teases the two and the climbs up into the top bunk.

He smiles at Ellie and climbs under the covers. Ellie joins him and cuddles up into his side.

Minho looks into Ellie's eyes and smiles even bigger. He can't believe she is really here and in his arms again. As she places her head on his shoulder into the crook of his neck, he turns his head to whisper to her.

"I've really missed you, El."

He feels her tighten her grip around his chest, "I've missed you too, Min."

Ellie moves her head so that she is looking up at him. Minho takes the opportunity to pull her into a short, sweet kiss.

"MY EYES!" Thomas screams from where he is standing next to them. He had just shut off the lights to the dorm and was walking back to his bed when the two decided to kiss.

Newt quickly gets out of his bed and pulls Thomas down by the arm smiling at Min and Ellie, "He'll get used to it."

Newt sat Thomas down on his bed and smirked at him.

"What Newt?"

Newt shook his head, "Nothing."

Thomas raised an eyebrow that Newt could just barely see in the dark.

"You're just, uh, so protective. It's a new look for you." Newt said trying to fight the blush he knew was creeping up onto his cheeks.

"I'm trying to make up for lost time. I still feel really bad for treating her so poorly in the Glade," Thomas said. He's normally not much of a talker but for some reason around Newt he feels comfortable and he finds himself wanting to talk to Newt about everything. It confuses him. He knows that Teresa expects him to be there for her, but does he really look at, or like Teresa the same way Minho looks at and likes Ellie? He sees the way Minho looks at his sister and knows that it's something special. They genuinely care about each other and like the other. Does he really want that kind of relationship with Teresa? She doesn't exactly make his heart flutter and cheeks blush. No, Newt seems to do that and it's confusing for Thomas. WICKED groomed him to believe he was meant for Teresa, but a part of him felt that it was so wrong. He could have sworn that his feelings towards her were more of a best friend kind. He wished Chuck was here to talk to, that kid was like his brother and would be brutally honest.

Newt can see the gears turning in Thomas' head, "Penny for your thoughts?"

Thomas turns his head to find Newt looking at him with concern, "Just thinking about all of this. I'm so confused about so many things Newt. I don't know how to sort out my thoughts from what WICKED brainwashed me to believe. And, I miss Chuck."

"I miss him too, Tommy. And you can't overthink everything. It'll drive you bloody bonkers. Just relax and get some rest, yeah? We'll face things as they come up one at a time. You're not alone Tommy. You've got Ellie, Minho, and you have me." Newt said and Thomas was grateful for the darkness because he could hide his blush. He really needed to figure out why Newt was having this effect on him.

"Thanks, Newt. Really, it means a lot." Thomas says sheepishly.

Newt then stands and looks at Minho and Ellie who have fallen sound asleep. Minho was lying on his back and had an arm wrapped protectively around Ellie. Newt could see a faint smile on Minho's face and was thankful to find his friend happy again. Ellie was curled up against Minho's side with both arms wrapped around him in a tight grip with her stuffed teddy bear in one hand. She had her head on his chest and looked like she was holding onto him for dear life, anchoring herself to him.

Newt smiled at them, they were so perfect for each other. Both were strong and completely independent, not to mention incredibly stubborn. But when they were together, they smiled a little brighter and learned that it was okay to lean on someone. Newt had to admit to himself that he was envious of their relationship. He thought he might have a chance at that with Thomas, but poor Tommy was so confused. Newt knew that WICKED had brainwashed him to believe that he was meant to be with Teresa but Newt was trying his hardest to show him that he didn't need to follow them and their bloody rules. Sighing, Newt gets into his bed and rolls over to face the wall. In seconds, he's asleep.

What the members of Group A don't know, is that as they all sleep peacefully, thinking they are safe, WICKED is reorganizing their dormitory and putting special effects into place. If the Gladers thought Phase 1 was tough, they have no idea what they are about to come up against in Phase 2: The Scorch Trials.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Here you go! Thank you so much to all the new favorites/follows! You guys are amazing :)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Maze Runner**

The next morning, Newt was woken by the sound of people screaming and banging on the windows. As he sat up to rub the sleep out of his eyes, he saw some of the other boys walking around and staring at the windows.

"What in bloody hell is going on?" Newt mutters.

Frypan pops up in front of him, "There's people surrounding the room! They're screaming like crazy!"

Newt stared in shock and shoved his covers off standing up to follow him to the window, where there were in fact, people clawing at the windows. He turned back to the bunks and noticed Ellie was sound asleep still. Minho was jumping down from his bed and Thomas was slowly sitting up. Newt rushed over and shook Thomas to fully wake him.

"Tommy, come on. You gotta see this," He said gesturing to the windows.

Thomas looked up at Newt sleepily. He had been having a dream of when he was a little boy and Teresa's voice in his head had woken him. She was talking to him in his mind again but the connection was abruptly cut off and left him confused and unable to reach her. Something just felt off. And now, here was Newt telling him something was wrong.

"What's going on?" Thomas asked standing up and following Newt.

Minho, who had made his way to a window and back in the time it took Thomas to come to, answered, "There's a bunch of Cranks outside. At least that's what they're calling themselves."

Thomas then moved towards the window and found a bunch of people, if they could be called that, screaming and clawing at the window. They were shouting "Kill me!" and "I'm a Crank!" It was absolutely terrifying. Thomas then looked around and noticed all of the boys were awake. He tried to reach out to Teresa again but there was no answer.

"Wait, where's Ellie?" Thomas asked Newt and Minho who were standing next to him.

Minho gestured to the bed and Thomas looked in shock.

"She's still asleep? I know she's a heavy sleeper but those Cranks are really loud." Thomas exclaimed in disbelief.

Newt and Minho laughed at Thomas. Frypan joined in with them and clapped Thomas on the back.

"Oh, Thomas. Ellie can sleep! Ya should've seen her when she got to the Glade. Our girl slept through the entire ride up and all through the afternoon. Gally had to carry her to the Homestead. It was hysterical!" Frypan explained through laughter.

Thomas looked at his friends with concern, "She really sleeps that deep?"

Newt nods, "Indeed, Tommy. And she isn't always the most pleasant person to wake up." Thomas nods along because he does remember that from when she was younger and he would try to wake her up on a day she wanted to sleep in. He distinctly remembers a few incidents in which he was hit by her and decided right then he was not going to wake her.

"Right, uh, well we should probably go try to find Teresa, so Minho you want to wake her up?" Thomas asked attempting to smile at Minho.

Minho crosses his arms and raises an eyebrow, "Is that supposed to be a smile? Gosh, you're an ugly shank. Please, never smile."

Frypan and Newt snicker while Thomas rolls his eyes, "Ha, ha, Minho. So, are you gonna wake Ellie or not?"

"Oh, now you want me near your sister?" Minho asks getting more amusement out of Thomas' reactions by the second.

Thomas looks to Newt, "A little help here Newt? I don't know what the right answer is anymore."

Newt and Minho share a look of pure amusement, temporarily forgetting the screaming Cranks.

Newt grabs Thomas' arm, "Come on Tommy. You, me and Fry are going to try to get the bloody door open while Minho wakes sleeping beauty." He starts walking and then leans in to whisper to Tommy, "And relax. Minho's just trying to get a rise out of you. You're far too easy to tease."

"Yeah, and I wouldn't wanna scare El first thing in the morning with you hideous shanks staring at her," Minho calls out to them smirking at them.

As Newt, Fry, Thomas and the other Gladers go to work on trying to get the door open, Minho literally jumps up onto the bunk bed. Even his jump didn't stir Ellie, she must really be exhausted. Minho quietly lies down on his side so he faces her and he tentatively reaches a hand out to brush her hair back. He's only hesitant because he knows they fixed things but he isn't sure if they're immediately jumping back into how they were before, plus all the other Gladers are nearby and he doesn't like to show them his softer side. That's reserved for El and El only.

"El, Shebean," he whispers moving his hand from her hair to her shoulder to lightly shake her, "Ya gotta wake up."

Ellie groans loudly and pulls the covers up, effectively cuddling deeper into the bed. Minho sighs and continues to shake her shoulder while glancing around to ensure the others aren't watching. He leans in with the intention to give her a chaste kiss, but Ellie latches her arms around his torso and continues to sleep.

Just then, Thomas and the others are making their way back into the room. After having effectively opened the door, they want to adventure out into the hallway but need Minho and Ellie with them.

"What the shuck Minho! I told you to wake her up, not cuddle, just shake her shoulder and she'll wake up." Thomas says shuddering.

Minho looks at him and sarcastically says, "Shake her shoulder? Huh, now why didn't I think of that!" He then makes a point of keeping eye contact with Thomas while gently shaking Ellie's shoulder.

Ellie makes a sound of annoyance and grabs the pillow from under her head throwing it in the general direction of the shake. Minho barely manages to duck out of the way and the pillow flies over the edge of the bunk bed effectively hitting Thomas in the face.

Thomas catches it with irritation, "This is ridiculous," Thomas stomps over to the bunk, "Elizabeth, get UP!" Thomas swings the pillow as Minho ducks out of the way again and the pillow smacks Ellie in the face. She flinches and lashes out in response and succeeds in slapping Minho, who grits his teeth to keep himself from lashing out at her. He does mutter "shuck" though.

The pillow worked in waking Ellie up and she immediately sits up glaring. She takes in her surroundings and finds Minho in bed looking irritated and Thomas standing right next to it looking aggravated while holding the pillow. She narrows her eyes at both of them.

"What the hell guys!" Ellie groans rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "There are more effective ways to wake a girl up then to hit her in the face with a shucking pillow!" She practically growls at them.

"Yeah, well we tried that, actually Minho did, but it wasn't working so I took the pillow, YOU threw at me and returned the favor," Thomas counters tossing the pillow onto the bed and crossing his arms.

Ellie narrows her eyes at him and doesn't say anything. She says it all in the look. She then snaps her attention to Minho and raises an eyebrow at him.

"Good morning Shebean," Minho offers with a smile.

"Morning," Ellie huffs and throws the covers off of her onto him. She grabs her backpack where it hangs from the bunk and jumps down. As she walks towards the bathroom, she mutters under her breath about being rudely awakened from a great dream.

Thomas looks after her stunned. He the turns to Minho and Newt, "You really weren't kidding about her not being a morning person anymore."

Minho rolls his eyes and jumps down from the bed, "Great observation. I don't know what we'd do without ya shank."

Thomas shakes his head, "She'll get over it."

"Oh, she will but I'd watch your back, bro." Minho says with a cryptic smile. Thomas just looks at him questioningly but then rolls his eyes.

All the Gladers have gathered by the door, waiting for any kind of guidance. They all look to Newt, Minho, Thomas and Ellie now. So, Newt and Thomas quickly tell Minho that Teresa isn't responding to Thomas so they need to go look for her but all of the lights outside the dormitory are off. Minho tells them he will lead them while Newt searches for the light switch. They wait maybe 15 minutes for Ellie.

Ellie then returns from the bathroom, tossing her backpack onto the bed. She has managed to quickly shower and leaves her hair down to dry, something she never did in the Glade. Leaving it down makes her realize how long it truly has gotten considering it now reaches far down her back. She slipped into leggings, black combat boots, and a baggy royal blue sweater that is extremely comfortable. Her time alone allowed her to fully wake up and feel like a person.

"Good morning sunshine," Thomas mumbles to her.

Ellie crosses her arms and glares at him rather than respond.

Minho chuckles and slips an arm around her waist and kisses her head.

"Morning Shebean," Minho smiles.

Ellie smiles back up at him, "Morning Minho," she kisses his cheek and then turns to Newt and smiles sweetly, "Morning Newtie!" Newt chuckles, "Morning Ellie."

Thomas looks between them all and stalks off towards the door. Newt quickly follows behind him letting Minho and Ellie have a moment alone.

"Sorry, about the, uh, wake up." Minho mutters holding her hand and walking them towards the group waiting by the door.

"It's fine, I should've woken up. It's just my job to give Thomas a hard time about everything," she grins at him.

He chuckles and looks down at her, "You left your hair down today. You never leave your hair down."

Ellie blushes, "Yeah, I didn't feel like tying it up or braiding it. It's just gotten so long and I'm hoping it'll quickly dry so I can put it up. I know it looks bad down."

"Relax, El. It looks really cute. You look good no matter what you wear or do with your hair." Minho stops walking and quickly kisses her. Ellie blushes more but smiles at him when they pull apart.

"Thank you, Mr. Macho. What did I miss anyway? Who are all the screaming people outside our windows?"

"Those are Cranks. That's what they call themselves and they would like for us to kill them." Minho explains.

Ellie sarcastically remarks, "Cheerful. So why is everyone at standing at the door?"

"The shanks are waiting for their fearless leader to guide them out into the scary common room," Minho says back with a smirk. Ellie rolls her eyes at him as they reach the group.

Minho releases her hand and steps to the front of the crowd. Ellie follows him and stands near him, but not next to him, allowing him to take the lead.

"Right, so, let's go. Just follow in a line or whatever," Minho shrugs and fully opens the door walking out into the common room.

It's pitch black and unsettles Ellie so she rushes forward until she bumps into Minho.

"Sorry," she whispers and he reaches for her hand again, giving it a comforting squeeze. A small smile spreads across her face as she walks directly behind him.

After walking a few feet, Minho curses and ducks.

"Watch your heads! There's things hanging from the ceiling!" He calls out so everyone can hear him. Minho then pulls Ellie into his side protectively and puts an arm over her head.

She smiles and teases him, "You know I'm capable of protecting myself, right?"

"Of course I do. Heck, you could probably beat most of us in a fight, but I just got you back so I'm going to be a protective shank of a boyfriend." Minho whispers to her. Ellie simply giggles in response and tries to meet his eyes in the dark when suddenly the lights come on as Newt shouts, "Found the lights!"

Ellie's giggle stops immediately as she sees what's hanging from the ceiling. If she had eaten breakfast, she is certain it would've made a reappearance because they are surrounded by hanging bodies.

"Bloody hell," Newt mutters.

Minho curses again and lets go of Ellie's hand in order to walk towards Thomas. Some of the Gladers have thrown up and others look queasy. Ellie makes her way to Newt.

"Ya alright Ellie?" He asks seeing the spoofed look on her face.

Ellie shakes her head, "Yeah, just disturbed. I recognize some of the faces from when I was little." Ellie says and she continues to look in shock at the swinging people.

Newt pulls her into a hug to redirect her attention, "Let's not look at them, shall we?"

Ellie nods and follows him as they find Thomas and Minho talking outside a room. The door to the room states "Teresa Agnes, Group A, Subject A1, The Betrayer."

After seeing the sign, it takes everything in Ellie not to scream out in anger. She knew that Teresa had her stupid memories and couldn't be trusted. No wonder they labeled her the betrayer! That's when it also dawns on Ellie that she created labels for all of the other subjects, which means they'll know soon enough their labels. Dumb WICKED! Ellie bites her tongue as Thomas barges into the room. Minho, Newt and Ellie follow him inside and hear the water running in the bathroom.

Thomas moves towards the bathroom but Minho grabs his arm to stop him.

"No way shank. You do not follow a girl into the bathroom, even if she is your shucking girlfriend." Minho mocks.

"She's not my girlfriend," Thomas grumbles earning a chuckle from Minho.

Ellie peaks at Newt to see he's flustered. He seems confused and angry so she gives him a smile but he doesn't return it.

"I'm gonna try to establish some buggin' order out there and call for a Gathering in the dormitory. Meet us there." Newt says turning to leave. Minho follows but Ellie stands behind a second to talk to Thomas.

"Thomas" she calls to him.

"Done giving me the silent treatment?" he teases and she rolls her eyes playfully.

"You deserved it! But, just, be careful around Teresa. I don't trust her." Ellie says to him turning the conversation serious.

"I know you don't Ellie. But, it's hard to explain. Why else would we be able to talk in our minds if there wasn't some kind of connection or expectation?" Thomas exclaims.

"Honestly, I don't know. But, just, be cautious. You may not realize it, but you could be hurting others by putting all your trust in Teresa and constantly worrying about her. Do the right thing Tommy," Ellie says patting his arm and leaving.

She makes her way back into the dormitory and immediately sits between Newt and Minho. She leans in to whisper to Newt.

"Sorry about my brother, he can be quite thick-skulled. But don't worry, he'll come around."

Newt blushes and stares at her but before he can say anything she interrupts, "And don't deny that you like him. I see you two together. He feels something too, I know it, but he's confused. He can't decipher what WICKED wants him to feel and what he feels, so just gently push him, yeah? I'll help nudge him towards you." She looks at Newt with a genuine smile and he nods.

"Thanks, Ellie." Newt whispers and she simply nods in response.

Ellie then leans her head on Minho's shoulder and he discreetly puts an arm around her waist in a side hug. They don't say anything, they simply sit in comfort until Thomas comes walking in dragging someone with him.

"Well that is certainly not Teresa," Minho sarcastically remarks.

Ellie and Newt then look to the door where Thomas stands beside a teenage boy.

"Aris?" Ellie gasps sitting up straight. "What are you doing here?"


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you, thank you for following, favoriting, and reviewing! Just so you know this will follow the book, not the movie! SO this chapter has come direct quotes from the book but I will be deviating from it a bit to add my own touch to it. Enjoy! :) Let me know what you think/want to see!  
Disclaimer: I don't own Maze Runner, that's James Dashner. **

_"_ _Aris?" Ellie gasps sitting up straight. "What are you doing here?"_

"Huh?" Aris asked looking scared and confused.

Ellie cursed to herself, she should've assumed he didn't have his memories. She felt Minho tense up next to her and felt Newt shifting uncomfortably from her other side.

"Who's that guy?" Minho bitterly called out. Ellie could hear a hint of jealousy in his voice, so she reached out and grabbed his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

Thomas motioned to the guy, "Uh, this is Aris. But first, we need to look for Teresa since he was in her room. Let's search the other rooms."

Minho stood up and shook his head, "There aren't other rooms, dude. There's the big common area with the dead bodies, Teresa's room, and this room. Plus, the door that lead to the outside but they're shucking locked and chained from the inside."

Thomas groaned and left the room in a blur of frustration.

"Should someone follow him?" Aris asks uncertainly.

"No, he'll come to his sense eventually," Ellie said standing up to join Minho, Aris and Newt in the doorway, "Now, Aris, what are you doing here?"

"I don't know. I went to bed and woke up and then that Thomas kid was in my bedroom. Why do I have to explain myself? And how did you know my name?" Aris demanded but seemed uncomfortable making demands.

Ellie sighed, "Long story but I knew you before we all got in this mess. Everything will be explained once my dumb brother gives up his search for Teresa."

Newt turned to the rest of the Gladers then, "Alright so, why don't we take the bunks down and place them against the walls so we can all sit in a nice circle and have a proper chat."

The Gladers simply nodded and start dismantling the bunks and pushing them against the walls. Once all the bunks have been dismantled, the Gladers each sit on their bed. Newt continued to stand so Aris took his bed. Ellie and Minho sat on their bed and everyone waited patiently for Thomas to come back.

Ellie shook her head and grumbled to herself, "Such an idiot. Why is he so obsessed with her?!"

Beside her, Minho chuckled and pulled her into his side keeping an arm wrapped around her back, "It's that telepathy thing. But I've been trying to tell him not to trust the shank."

"Yeah, me too." Ellie said and leaned her head on his shoulder just as Thomas arrived again looking defeated, "Oh, look. We were right and there were no other rooms."

Minho shakes his head amused at Ellie's sarcasm but pats the bed next to him, "Told ya, dude. Have a seat and let's talk to Aris. But make sure to close the door, smells worse than Gally's feet out there."

Ellie giggles and Minho smiles down at her pleased he got one laugh. Newt sits on Thomas' bed and looks at the couple while Thomas closes the door causing Ellie to break contact with Minho and look at him.

"I don't know whether to think you two are bloody adorable or annoying," Newt teased.

Thomas then plops down next to Newt, "Annoying."

"Alright it's storytellin' time. Let's keep it quick I'm starving." Newt said authoritatively and all the Gladers nodded in agreement.

"So, Aris. Talk." Minho commanded and Ellie contained the smirk she felt at watching Min switch into what she had dubbed his "Keeper mojo."

Aris stubbornly crossed his arms, "No. You guys talk first."

Minho raised a challenging eyebrow and Ellie instantly felt bad for Aris. He should not have challenged Minho. She peaked around Min to see Newt and Thomas also looking a tad concerned for Aris now that Minho was getting worked up.

"Yeah? How about we all just take turns beating the klunk out of your shucking face. Then, we'll ask you again to talk. So, choose wisely." Minho threatened.

Newt turned to Minho shocked and tried to reason with him but Minho immediately shook his head, "No way, Newt. He could be a shucking Creator or part of WICKED. For all we know he could've hung those people! We've got about 21 people and he is one person. So I suggest he stop acting all snooty and just talk!"

Ellie gently rubbed circles into Minho's back, hoping it would relax him. It didn't. He continued to sit there tense and frustrated so Ellie scooted closer and put her head back on his shoulder. He relaxed slightly and wrapped on arm around her shoulder.

With a sigh, Newt agreed with Min and prompted Aris to talk. Aris told them how he was one boy in a maze of about 50 girls. They escaped a few days ago, were held in a gym, and then he was moved to the room he woke up in last night with no explanation. Of course, Ellie already knew all of this, so she only half listened and tried not to fall asleep. Whenever she was cuddled up next to Minho, she felt at ease. She had tuned out the entire conversation until Minho shifted and sat up straighter causing her head to fall of his shoulder. She glared at him but sat up and leaned against the wall instead.

"It's the same shuck experiment!" Minho exclaimed.

Thomas looked deep in thought. Ellie knew he was processing the information and was probably a few steps ahead of everyone already. He would quickly figure out that Aris was Teresa's parallel in the Group B maze.

"Could you telepathically speak to a girl?" Thomas hesitantly asked Aris.

Ellie looked between the two of them as Thomas' eyes widened and Aris' shrunk in concentration. They were staring intently at each other and it made her feel as if she were intruding on a private moment.

"Why are you two lookin' like you bloody fell in love?" Newt asked with a hint of jealousy lacing his voice.

Ellie sighed and explained for them, "It's because they can both speak telepathically. It seems we each had a match, except for me, in the other maze." As soon as she finished she felt a pulse of pain in her right forearm and gritted her teeth in pain. Minho shot her a concerned look but she waved it off. Min, being the protective boyfriend he was, took her right arm and started rubbing the spot he knew WICKED triggered the pain from, and Ellie was grateful for it because quickly the pain dulled.

"Wait, he can seriously do it too?" Newt asked glaring at Thomas. His jealousy was becoming obvious and Ellie wanted to console him because she knew Thomas couldn't see it.

"Yeah, but Aris who killed her?" Thomas waved Newt off causing the blonde boy to glare even harder.

"Enough of this voodoo klunk when we're around," Minho interjected because he also saw how upset Newt was getting, "Fill us in on what happened."

Thomas then explained that Aris had a partner like he had Teresa but that his partner, Rachel, was killed by some girl named Beth who was their equivalent of Gally. When Ellie heard that Rachel died, she felt sad because she remembered the girl being nice. Newt and the others continued to grill Aris, while Ellie and Thomas listened. It wasn't until Aris said the word "sticks" that they both jumped back into the conversation.

"Sticks?" Minho asked sounding amused. He and Thomas then exchanged an amused glance at the new knowledge that both groups had their own slang.

Ellie was watching Aris intently and saw that as he rubbed his neck, black writing became visible from where he moved his collar. Was that a tattoo?

"Aris, is that a tattoo on your neck?" She called out to him from across the room.

He regards Ellie with confused look, "Huh?" Then he starts tugging at his collar trying to see his neck. Newt moved forward and pulled down Aris' collar. Minho was quick to join and Ellie immediately behind them.

"Well, what's it say?" Aris asked annoyed.

"It says, Property of WICKED. Group B, Subject B1, The Partner." Minho read from his neck. Then he added, "I thought we escaped from WICKED?"

Ellie bit her lip. She was remembering sitting in a room with the doctors of WICKED and taking the time to name each boy based on certain characteristics they demonstrated while in the Maze. She didn't need to see their necks to know that most of them also had writing on their necks.

As Minho marched back to his mattress to sit and think, Thomas grabbed his shirt exclaiming he had one too. Ellie watched with baited breath.

"What are you shuckin' talkin' about?" Minho practically growled.

"Right here, dude. It says Property of WICKED. Group A. Subject A7. The Leader." Thomas reads.

"You're kidding me?" Minho said and then sprinted into the bathroom to look for himself. Ellie watched as all hell broke loose and Gladers started grabbing each other's shirts and reading their labels. She quietly observed as Thomas read Newt his label.

"Property of WICKED. Group A. Subject A5. The Glue."

"The Glue?" Newt asked bewildered.

Thomas looked at Newt bashfully and Ellie couldn't help but smile as he said, "Well, yeah. It makes sense. You hold us all together and keep us working as a team. Did you read mine?"

Newt blushed and nodded, "Uh, yeah."

"Well, what does it say?" Thomas asked.

Ellie slowly walked closer to the two so she could hear his label because she did not remember coming up with his.

"Well, you're subject A2," Newt hesitantly says and Thomas gets annoyed urging him to continue so Newt does, "And you're not called anything…just says that you're to be killed by group B."

Ellie stopped walking and stared. No, this could not be happening! No, no, no! Sonya and Harriet had mentioned they had a subject to kill but Thomas? Why did they want Thomas dead? All she knew was that she was not going to allow that to happen.

"El?" Min stood beside her and noticed the expression of sadness and terror on her face. "What happened?"

"Tommy, his label. It says, he's to be….to be killed by Group B. I can't lose my brother Min. I just got him back!" Ellie said looking up to meet Minho's eyes.

He cupped her face between his hands and stared into her bright hazel eyes, "And you won't. I'm not going to let them shuckin' kill my best friend."

Ellie nodded, "Thanks, Min. I won't let it happen either."

"Did anyone read your tattoo?" Min asks her.

"No, I didn't think I would have one." Ellie says.

"Let me check," He says as she turns around and he moves her hair from her neck and gently pulls down her shirt.

He whispers, "Property of WICKED. Subject 0. The Knowledge." He pauses, "That's weird. You don't have a group or letter before your number. Is that because you weren't supposed to be in the Maze originally and don't have an opposite in B?"

Ellie nods knowing that if she speaks, WICKED will use the injection in her arm.

"Well that doesn't sound too bad. The Knowledge. We always knew I was the smartest in the Glade." She says smirking at Minho.

Min rolls his eyes, "I'm afraid I've been a horrible influence. You're picking up on my beautiful confidence."

Ellie giggles and goes on her tip toes to press a gentle kiss to his lips.

"You know you love me," she smiles and blushes at him.

Min smirks, "I'm not sure I do."

It's Ellie's turn to roll her eyes and pull away. When they hold hands and turn to see if everything has calmed down, an alarm starts to sound.

Ellie let go of Minho's hand and placed her hands over her ears.

Newt shouts and joins the couple, "It's the bloody Newbie alarm! Don't tell me we're getting Greenies."

"Where's the Box in this shuck place?" Minho sarcastically adds in.

"Ha, ha, Minho. A real jokester." Thomas mutters annoyed because the alarm is giving him a headache.

The Gladers and Aris stand around with their hands over their ears waiting for the alarm to be shut off. When it does, everything falls eerily silent.

A sound is heard from the door, and suddenly the previously locked door has been opened.

Ellie shrugs, "I take it they want us to go to the common room now? Rejoin all the dead bodies?"

Minho snickers at her, "Let's go then. Sounds like a grand ole time."

"If you two seem so happy about this you go first!" Frypan calls out to them.

Minho stands up straighter, "Don't mind if I do. Maybe we'll have a new Greenbean," and then, Minho's voice softened as he glanced at Thomas, "We could use another Chuck to brighten this place up."

Ellie looked up at Minho with a mix of shock and pride. He never showed the others his soft side, never! But, in this rare moment, she could tell he was reassuring Thomas that he also missed the little guy. When she caught Thomas smile at Minho, Ellie couldn't help but reach out and grab Minho's hand.

"Shall we go venture out into the scary common room, my Shebean?" Minho asked with a smirk.

"I think we shall, Mr. Macho." Ellie grinned at him and she could hear Thomas, Newt and Frypan groan at them.

"I stand by my earlier statement that they annoy me," Thomas muttered but Ellie and Min chose to ignore him.

The couple made their way to the door and slowly inched it open, only to find it was pitch black.

"They shut off the shuckin' lights. Now I gotta find the light switch." Minho grumbled.

Ellie stepped in front of him, "I got it. I remember where it was and how to navigate around the, uh, bodies." Min nodded and then started talking to Thomas.

Ellie slipped into the common area and slid along the wall. The first thing she immediately noticed was that the awful, gut wrenching smell was gone. That was odd. She tried not to dwell on it and continued to use the wall as guidance until she hit the switches. She flipped them and the room immediately lit up.

Looking around in shock, Ellie discovered all the bodies had, in fact, been removed and that the place smelled immaculately clean.

The Gladers came rushing out, led by Newt. They were asking pointless questions about how it happened and who did it. That's when everyone split up. Some went back into the dorm to discover there was a new supply of clothes, even a pile included for Ellie. Also, they noted that brick walls had been built outside the windows.

Thomas discovered that Teresa's old room label had been replaced with Aris' name. He also attempted to reach out telepathically to Teresa again. He succeeded, but she told him she had no idea who he was and to leave her alone so Thomas then got overwhelmed by all of it and ran back into the dorm room to take a nap. The other Gladers sat down in the common room and started talking amongst themselves.

Minho approached Ellie and leaned down to whisper, "Can we go somewhere private? I have to tell you something."

Ellie turned around and regarded him skeptically. Was he okay? But, she simply nodded and followed him into Aris' room since Aris was too busy talking with the Gladers.

When they got in the room, Minho immediately shut the door and pushed a chair in front of it as a form of locking it. He then took her hand and guided her to the bed where they both sat down.

"Min, is everything alright? You're scaring me." Ellie said.

"I'm fine, there's just something I wanted to return to you because I really did miss you and you have no idea how thankful I am that we are okay despite all this craziness. I thought you would like it back," Minho said as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out the necklace he had given her in the Glade.

"Oh my gosh! I thought I lost it forever! Min!" Ellie gasped and looked at the green gem charm. She remembers the day Minho gave it to her. She had been feeling sick and was taking a nap when Minho quietly came into her room all giddy like a little kid. He presented her with the necklace explaining that he found the gem on the floor of the maze and got the string from Clint. He had told her how the green gem reminded him of the green that sparkled in her big hazel eyes.

Minho leaned forward and put the necklace around her neck, securing it in place. When he was done, they turned to face each other. Ellie blushed and held the charm in her hand while Min stared at her, admiring her.

"Thank you, Min. You have no idea how upset I was when I thought I was never going to see it again. You really are the best, I love you so much." Ellie said and leaned in to kiss him.

"I love you too, El. I was happy I found it," Minho smiled and returned the kiss. They both put all their feelings into the kiss and it was growing more and more passionate by the second. Once Minho's shirt had been discarded he looked up at Ellie with a question in his eyes, he wanted to make sure she was okay taking their relationship to the next level, given the craziness of their situation.

She simply blushed at him and bit her bottom lip, "I want to. But, only if you do! And I know the others are outside but I bet they're all preoccupied at the moment and I know the walls are soundproof since we didn't hear them moving anything. But again, only if you want to."

Minho chuckled at her nervous rambles and pulled El closer to him, "Of course I do."

"One question," Ellie said as they continued to shower each other in kisses. Minho simply raised an eyebrow prompting her to continue, "Where was the necklace?"

Min blushed. Something Ellie thought she had never seen before and she couldn't help but think how adorable it was as he stuttered, "I, uh, slept in your bed once you left. I missed you too much and it was just sitting on the nightstand."

Ellie smiled lovingly at him and kissed him, "You are something else, Min."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Woohoo an update! Sorry if things are moving a little slow, I just wanted to start establishing some things before setting off into the Scorch. After next chapter, the pace should pick up. Let me know your thoughts :)**

 **Disclaimer: Don't own Maze Runner trilogy.**

When Ellie and Minho snuck off into Aris' room, Newt noticed that Thomas had been taking a nap for a while. Apparently, his nap and Ellie and Minho's disappearance inspired the others to relax and calm down. Spread throughout the common room, boys were lying down taking naps or in small groups having hushed conversations. Newt decided to check in on Thomas, he seemed pretty spoofed when he ran from the room.

Newt quietly got up and went into the dormitory where he found Thomas curled up on his bed sleeping peacefully. With a smile, Newt walked closer and discovered Thomas was slowly waking up.

"Glad to see ya still know how to take a buggin' nap," He smirked at Thomas.

"How long was I out?" Thomas asked as he rubbed his eyes and sat up, patting the spot next to him indicating Newt should sit. Newt walked over and plopped down on the bed.

"Not too long, probably a half hour tops." Newt shrugged and Thomas looked at him with concern.

"What's wrong Newt?"

"Huh?" Newt distractedly answered, "Nothing."

Thomas nudged him with his shoulder, "You're a terrible liar. Come on, spill."

Newt sighed and then told Thomas all about how their current situation was reminding him of the original Gladers and how he, Minho, Alby and a few others basically built up the place from what little the Creators had provided. Thomas only responded with depressing snippets hoping for no Grievers.

"Please, Tommy. Careful what you bloody wish for, they could send something much worse." Newt shuddered.

Thomas smirked at him, "Now who's the pessimistic one?"

Newt rolled his eyes, "Whatever. I'll stop buggin' you now and find someone else to bug. Maybe Minho and Ellie are awake."

As Newt stood to leave Thomas reached out and grabbed his arm, "You're not bugging me Newt. You never bother me."

"Oh, okay." Newt said and sat back down next to Thomas waiting for the younger boy to talk.

"Newt?"

"Yeah, Tommy?"

"I'm so confused," Thomas said and turned to look into Newt's eyes, "none of this makes sense. But also, when I reached out to Teresa this morning, she practically yelled at me in my head. I don't know what I did wrong."

Newt felt jealousy creeping up but tried to keep it out of his voice, "She did?"

Thomas nodded, "Yeah she said she didn't know me and to never reach out again. How could she suddenly forget?" Thomas shook his head, "Sorry, I don't know why I told you that. You just make me feel safe and like I can tell you anything."

The two sat in a silence, neither quite knowing what to say. Thomas felt stupid for bringing up Teresa because he could tell it always upset Newt when he did.

"Sorry," Thomas started but was interrupted.

"You don't have to be sorry," Newt whispered.

"Yes, I do. I know you don't like her," Thomas said.

Newt looked sincerely at Thomas, "You're right, I don't like her Tommy. She confuses you and upsets you and I don't like when you're upset."

Thomas didn't say anything in response except he reached out and took Newt's hand. Newt's head snapped in Thomas' direction and both boys stared at each other with a blush growing on their cheeks. Thomas was still uncertain about a lot of things, but he knew that Newt was special and he wanted Newt to know that he appreciated him and his patience.

"Newt," Thomas quietly began, "I don't say it often because you know how I hate admitting feelings and being confused. But, I wanted to say thank you. You've been there for me since my arrival in the Glade and have stayed by my side ever since. When I get annoying and act like a slinthead because I can't make up my mind, you're patient with me when I know you are actually frustrated. So, thanks Newt."

Newt smiled shyly at Thomas, "It's quite alright Tommy."

Thomas blushed at the endearment. He didn't know what he was feeling but something inside him was pulling him towards Newt. He found himself closing his eyes and leaning in, closer to Newt. Newt, caught up in the moment, reciprocated the motion and leaned in. Before either could register what was happening, they were kissing. It was sweet and slow and when the boys came to their senses and pulled apart, they looked at each other with fresh blushes on their faces.

However, they didn't get a chance to talk or react because the doors to the dormitory flew open causing Newt to jump off the bed and stand. Both Newt and Thomas turned to the door and in walked none other than Minho.

"My favorite shanks! How are ya?" Minho asked cheerfully as he closed the door behind him. When he turned back to his two friends he took in their bashful appearances. He took note that both of them were flushed and had glazed over looks.

He smirked, "It's a bit warm in here, wouldn't you say? No wonder you're both red as shucking tomatoes."

Thomas recovered first and cleared his throat, "What do you want Minho?"

"Nice to see you too, shank. Have a nice nap?" Minho remarked.

Thomas rolled his eyes while Newt rubbed the back of his neck, clearly feeling uncomfortable.

"I thought you were also taking a nap?" Newt asked.

Minho feigned hurt, "Are you two trying to kick me out of this room?"

It was Newt's turn to roll his eyes, "Must you always be so bloody dramatic? Seriously, though, where's Ellie? I thought you guys were sleeping?"

Thomas looked between the two confused, "Huh? Ellie wasn't in here sleeping. Where else would she have slept?"

Minho shot Newt a look that silenced him instantly before turning his attention back to Thomas, "She's in Aris' room sleeping."

"ARIS' ROOM?" Thomas practically shouted.

"Relax, dude. The others are all knocked out in the common room. Sleeping like good little slintheads. I just wanted to see if anything had changed while I was, uh, napping." Minho said, stuttering slightly at the end of his sentence.

"So, you were napping?" Newt said narrowing his eyes at Minho with extra emphasis on the word napping. He seemed too cheerful given their current situation and Newt was determined to find out why, though he had quite a few guesses as to why Ellie was in Aris' room.

"I'm confused," Thomas stated from his bed with his eyebrows drawn together in concentration.

"Go back to sleep, Tommy. We'll come wake ya up if anything changes."

"Yeah, you're gonna hurt yourself if you keep trying to think so hard." Minho snickered and grabbed Newt's arm, "Come on Newt, let's let the shank get some sleep."

Thomas just nodded, refusing to meet Newt's eyes. He was still freaking out about the kiss and wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep so he could avoid thinking about what it meant for as long as possible. Though, as Thomas rolled towards the wall, he couldn't deny one thing. He enjoyed it. As he drifted off to sleep, he could only think that he had liked kissing the blonde boy with the adorable accent.

NEWTMASNEWTMASNEWTMAS

Minho and Newt went around waking the Gladers up, telling them to go into the dormitory if they wanted to nap. Surprisingly, all the boys went to take a nap.

"Hey, uh, Minho?" Aris hesitantly asked.

"What?"

"Is Ellie still sleeping in my room? I saw you two go in there before." Aris stuttered out.

Minho looked at him, "Yes, she is. If you want a nap take Newt's bed. It'll be the only empty one in the dorm. The other shanks should be on their own beds and El's backpack is on mine."

"Right, thanks." Aris said and walked into the dorm closing the door behind him.

"Why'd you tell him to take my bed?" Newt asked, sitting on the floor crossing his arms.

Minho sat across from him and shrugged, "Because I didn't want the slinthead sleeping in my bed?"

Newt rolled his eyes, "Gee, thanks. Any chance food was delivered while I was talking to Tommy?"

"Nope and I'm starving." Minho groaned and then studied Newt, "Were you two only talking?"

Newt blushed and stuttered, "Wh-what? Of course."

Minho smirked knowingly, "Sure you were. That's why you were both flustered when I came into the room."

"I thought you never liked gossip much?" Newt asked.

Minho shrugged, "In the Glade, no. But it's so boring here so I might as well indulge."

Newt sighed, "You really choose now to indulge?"

"So, go on, enlighten me," Minho encouraged.

"Right, well, uh, we were chatting. Then he had to mention that stupid girl and I got bloody jealous but then he suddenly changed the conversation and it turned serious. We got caught up in a moment and," Newt stopped blushing.

"Then?" Minho said forcing his friend to admit what he already knew. He wasn't dumb. Both had been flustered with swollen lips, it didn't take much to put two and two together.

"We snogged." Newt said extremely fast.

Minho tried to hold in a laugh but he couldn't. Newt glared angrily at Minho and slapped him, "It's not funny Minho!"

"I know, it's not. But snogged? That word just makes me laugh. It sounds so weird. Like oh, we were just sharing a proper snog, don't mind us," Minho said trying his best to imitate Newt's accent.

"What have I said about trying to imitate me? It sounds so…condescending when you do it." Newt crossed his arms.

"It does not!" Minho argued back.

"Yes, it does!"

Minho rolled his eyes, "Oh, whatever. So, you kissed and then I interrupted which means you have no idea what he thinks about it."

Newt nodded, "Exactly. Now can we please drop it? I'd rather not talk about it."

"Sure, yeah. Of course. Consider it gone from my mind," Minho said. Newt regarded him uncertainly knowing Minho too well to believe that he was actually gonna drop it.

NEWTMASNEWTMASNEWTMAS

Ellie sat up in bed stretching out, smiling as the memory from just shortly before with Minho rushed back to her. She remembered that they cuddled for a bit after and she fell asleep in his arms with him whispering that he'd be right back. She quickly got up, went to Aris' bathroom and took a shower before changing. She walked out of the bedroom into the common room and found it empty, except for Newt and Minho.

When the door opened, Newt and Minho glanced up and smiled at Ellie so she made her way over to them making sure to walk slowly to hide the slight soreness she felt.

"Hey guys!" She called out to them.

"You and your brother sure know how to nap," Newt teased when she joined them and sat down next to Minho.

"What can I say? Must run in the family," she shrugged and looked around, "where's everyone else?"

"The other shanks are sleeping. Seems you and Thomas set an example and everyone learned to slim it a bit." Minho said.

"Did I miss much?" Ellie asked.

Newt shook his head, "Nope, you missed nothing. Except the fact that there's no bloody food and I'm hungry! Like really, are they gonna buggin' starve us now?"

Ellie looked between them concerned, "There's really no food? Like any?" Both shook their heads 'no' so Ellie sighed, "At least we have water. That should be enough to keep us all going for a few days. We need to stay hydrated and not expend too much energy because we never know what they have planned for us after this."

Neither Newt nor Minho responded. Ellie continued to look back and forth between the two of them. Minho looked like he was struggling to keep his mouth shut. Newt had a glazed look and a slight blush on his cheeks.

"Okay, seriously. What is with you two?" Ellie asked crossing her arms and staring them both down.

Newt bit his lip and didn't say anything. Minho looked at Newt and then Ellie. When he saw Elie raise an eyebrow at him he lost all resolve.

"Newt and Thomas kissed." Minho blurted.

"Minho!" Newt glared at him.

"I'm sorry dude. El and I promised not to keep secrets. Plus, she would've found anyways. I get the feeling you and Thomas will be avoiding each other." Minho shrugged nonchalantly.

Ellie gasped and looked at Newt excited, "You did?!"

Newt groaned and covered his face.

Ellie scooted closer to him and pulled his hands off his face, "Your blush says it all Newtie! Tell me, was it magical? Are you two in love?" She said with an amused, silly smile on her face.

Newt stared at her in horror, "Bloody hell. I'm not talking about this anymore."

Ellie pouted, "Not fair! You told Min!"

"I also interrupted," Minho added.

Ellie slapped his arm, "You interrupted?! Min, you know I've been dying for them to finally man up and profess their love for each other!"

"Ellie!" Newt exclaimed, "Could ya keep it down? I don't want anyone else finding out. We haven't even talked. And bloody hell let's not use the L word."

"Fine," Ellie said disappointed, "Let me guess, you have no idea what Tommy is thinking because he's being a thick-skulled shank?"

"You know, whenever you and Thomas use Glader slang it sounds dumb and weird." Minho commented. Ellie shot him a look and he held his hands up in surrender.

"It doesn't matter. There's nothing to talk about. It happened, we snogged." Newt said.

Ellie smirked, "Snogged?"

Minho grinned at Ellie, "It's Newt's proper word for kissed."

Newt groaned again, "I really hate you two sometimes."

"No, you don't," Ellie said hugging him, "You love us because we are your best mates." Ellie said the last part in a fake accent.

"Not you too! I already told Minho not to imitate my accent and now you do?" Newt sighed but a smile was creeping its way onto his face.

Ellie saw the corners of Newt's lips tugging upwards and soon the trio was laughing together. Once they settled down Newt regarded the two. Ellie had gone back to sitting next to Minho and he had put an arm around her waist and was rubbing circles on her side with his thumb. She was blushing and leaning into him more so than usual when in front of others, even it was just Newt who was used to seeing them act all coupley.

"You two are lucky Tommy hasn't seen you together yet or he might kill you Minho." Newt stated matter-of-fact.

"What? Why?" Minho asked. Ellie looked at him with a blush knowing exactly where this was going.

Newt rolled his eyes, "Please, I saw you sneak into Aris' room. You're both extra cheerful today, Minho especially so. Maybe keep the lovey dovey eyes to a minimum when Thomas is around? He won't be too happy to know that you've uh, how shall we put it, matured maybe?" Newt smirked at them. Ellie was completely flustered and buried her face in Minho's shoulder but Minho looked indifferent.

"You're a lot more observant than I give you credit for," Minho said with a grin.

"So, now that we've all embarrassed each other plenty for the day, what do we do now?" Ellie asked.

Newt and Minho shrugged. Ellie rolled her eyes, "Helpful, really."

"I guess we wait for food. It better not take too long. I'm shucking starving." Minho said rubbing his stomach.

Little did they know, they would have to go 3 days without any food. The only thing available to them was water from the sink and all the Gladers would be drained of energy. Everyone either, sat and stared at a wall or trudged into the showers when they weren't sleeping. WICKED was beginning to observe them as Phase 2 started.


	5. Chapter 5

Ellie had only moved from her bed when she absolutely needed to; three days of no food and only sink water to drink had effectively drained her and the other Gladers of all their energy. She was currently fitfully sleeping trying to fight off nightmares. She kept dreaming the same thing. It was from when she was little and the Creators used to utilize unconventional methods to get her to do her work. She had kept it a secret that they hurt her sometimes but being back within their control made the memories resurface.

Feeling Ellie shifting besides him, Minho sat up sleepily. He knew she was having nightmares again but they never talked about them. No one really talked since they were attempting to conserve as much energy as they could. After placing a kiss on El's forehead, Minho managed to pull himself out of bed that morning to shower and do a quick scan of the common room to check for changes. To his surprise, there was a table filled with food! Granola bars, nuts, trail mix, cereal, juice boxes, fruits!

"Well I'll be shucked," Minho muttered to himself and went around picking up an apple to eat while he finished checking the room.

In one corner of the room, a man dressed in all white sat behind a desk reading a book. He looked utterly bored and Minho stormed forward ready to demand answers from the man but hit an invisible wall.

"Oww!" Minho shouted and cursed rubbing his forehead. "Who the shuck are you?"

The man sighed and swiveled in his chair to face Minho. When Minho saw his face he couldn't help but snicker because the man looked like a rat and Min immediately designated him Rat Man.

"You and the other subjects need to be patient. I will explain everything in 45 minutes time. Now please, leave me be." The man drawled and picked his book back up.

"Excuse me?! You're just going to sit there like a slinthead and not give me any answers?" Minho gritted his teeth in anger and pounded his fist against the invisible wall.

He felt someone put a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Newt regarding him curiously.

"Minho, let's just wait. Come on, the others still need to be woken. Now, I'm going to get something to eat before I bloody collapse." Newt says and Minho nods and follows his friend.

As Newt goes to the food table, Minho busies himself with waking the other boys. As he got to Thomas, he made sure to warn the younger boy to eat slowly because some of the other shanks had started to throw up. Thomas nodded and cautiously made his way out into the common room leaving Minho alone with Ellie.

Ellie was curled up in her bed clutching the comforter to her chest. Instead of the usual peaceful look she adorned while sleeping, her eyebrows were scrunched together and a layer of sweat glistened on her forehead. She was clearly still having a nightmare and Minho's chest ached looking at her so he slowly approached and sat on the bed gently playing with her hair.

"El," he whispered, stroking her forehead, "El, come on, wake up. It's me, Min. You're having a nightmare," he continued to rub his thumb soothingly across her forehead.

Minho watched as Ellie snapped her bloodshot eyes open and looked around wildly. He took his hand off her forehead and patiently waited for her to come to her senses. When her eyes locked with his, he saw the moment she visibly relaxed and slumped against him. He pulled her close to him and rubbed soothing circles in her back.

"I've got a surprise for you, Shebean." Minho said and pulled the apple out from behind his back.

Ellie's eyes widened and she immediately grabbed the apple, much like Thomas did, and greedily began to eat.

"Slow down, El. I had to tell your brother that too. You greedy siblings." Minho said with a playful roll of his eyes. Ellie raised an unamused eyebrow at him and continued to munch away on her apple.

Minho continued to talk while Ellie ate, "There's this shucking rat faced man just sitting out there. He keeps saying we have to wait for the right time before he can explain what's going on. It's annoying if you ask me. I hope Thomas went out there and yelled at him."

Ellie regarded Min curiously, "A rat faced man?"

Minho nodded and rolled his eyes, "Yupp. Plus, he's sitting behind this stupid protective bubble so we can't even go near him. I tried and walked right into a damn invisible wall!"

"Well that's obviously there for security purposes. He clearly has something to tell us he knows we aren't going to like so they gave him an electronic forcefield that will keep us away without harming us if we were to accidently run into it." Ellie paused, "Is there more food? Can we get some before you show me this mysterious Rat Man?"

Standing up Minho nodded and Ellie got up to follow him. Taking his hand in hers, Ellie allowed herself to be guided by Minho out of the dormitory, into the common room where they stopped to get more food, and over to the area where the other boys had gathered sitting against the wall staring at the man at the desk.

When Ellie caught sight of Rat Man she stopped dead in her tracks and dropped the granola bar she had been holding. Her breathing immediately sped up and she felt herself getting light-headed. She started thinking to herself, "No, this can't be. What is Janson doing here? He's going to hurt me again!"

Ellie started to slip into her nightmares and lose touch of reality.

 _"_ _Elizabeth! What have I told you about getting a problem incorrect?" An angry man slammed a book closed on her desk causing the young girl to flinch._

 _"_ _I'm really sorry Mr. Janson, sir! Please, I'll try again!" The little girl cried knowing that she would be punished for not finishing her work correctly._

 _"_ _Stop crying!" The man screamed in her face and she bit her lip to stop the tears._

Sensing her panic and discomfort, Minho turned to Ellie concerned.

"El?" He said hesitantly squeezing the hand he held. She didn't respond; instead, her breathing continued to race and her face paled even more. He watched as her eyes glazed over.

Minho pulled her into a tight embrace, knowing that's what specifically helped her when she was panicking.

"Elizabeth, I need you to breath with me. It's Min. Listen to my voice and calm down," He whispered into her ear and started slowly breathing in and out.

Ellie began to feel the ice-cold blanket of her panic attack slip away. She allowed the feel of Minho's arms around her to ground her to reality. Her breathing started to regulate itself and she leaned into Minho's arms.

"Thanks, Min." She whispered not trusting her voice.

"Of course," he kissed the top of her head gently and decided against a witty and sarcastic remark.

Ellie took one more deep breath to completely gather herself and walked forward standing in front of the shield with her arms crossed.

"What are you doing here?" She asked keeping her voice completely steady and stern.

Rat Man looked up annoyed from his book and turned to see Ellie standing before him. He smirked, "Well, well, well. If it isn't our little genius, Elizabeth."

She raised an unamused eyebrow and attempted to control her emotions. The panic and anxiety at seeing him threatened to overpower her but she managed to keep it at bay.

"I asked you a question. What are you doing here?"

He picked his book back up, bored, "As I told your dear brother and friends, you must wait for the time when I'm permitted to give you more information. Now, please, be a good girl and sit down with the others."

Ellie curled her hands into fists at her sides and went to take a step forward when Minho grabbed her arm. She turned to him with a scary intensity in her eyes but he didn't flinch.

"He's not worth it, El. Come on, sit." Minho said and then leaned in to whisper, "Plus, Thomas and Newt are being all awkward and refusing to acknowledge they kissed the other day. It's shucking quality entertainment." Minho added a wink at the end causing Ellie to smile at him.

"Those two are such idiots," Ellie muttered back to him and went to sit down next to her brother, grateful for the distraction from Rat Man.

"Ellie! Morning," Thomas said smiling briefly at his sister.

"Hey, Tommy." She looked briefly at Newt sitting besides at him and grinned knowingly at Thomas. He groaned and gave her a look but she just shrugged innocently and leaned around him to smile sweetly at Newt.

"Hi Newtie! Everyone's looking better now and talking again. It's good to see people chatting away, don't you think Min?" She asked turning to smirk at Minho who returned the smirk right back.

"Oh yeah. All the shanks are giddy and chatting, having all sorts of important conversations." Minho commented earning a glare from both Newt and Thomas.

"I almost preferred when you two didn't have the energy to talk," Thomas muttered.

"Love you too bro," Ellie smiled at him taking a big bite out of the new granola bar Minho passed her.

Thomas rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah. Are you okay? I saw you, uh, get upset when you walked in. You remember him don't you?"

Ellie's smile immediately disappears from her face. She starts to nod and say yes but then she is overcome by an intense pain in her arm where WICKED continues to regulate what she can and cannot say.

Gritting her teeth, Ellie gets the nod out and Rat Man notices the situation. He watched the entire thing play out with awe at how well his little experiment worked out. Ellie snapped her head in his direction and glared at him but he simply smirked back haughtily and set his book aside.

"Ellie, I'm so sorry! I forgot about the arm thing, I shouldn't have asked. I'm so sorry." Thomas said quickly, afraid that he upset her.

Ellie shook her head at him, "Relax, Thomas. I'm fine. The pain disappears quickly."

Before anyone could say anything else, Rat Man stared rummaging through his desk and pulled out a giant manila folder. When he goes to speak, Minho interrupts yelling at him calling the man a coward for having that shucking force field but Newt reaches around Thomas and Ellie to slap him.

"Would you shut it? I want to know what the bloody hell is going on and he won't talk if you keep interrupting. Now shush!" Newt said punching Minho's arm once again for good measure. Ellie chuckled at him and he sent her a wink causing the girl to giggle more but she stopped immediately once Minho looked at her betrayed. Ellie simply rolled her eyes at him and turned her attention back to the man of her nightmares.

Rat Man told them how he was a WICKED employee sent to disclose information about the trials. He told them all about the Maze Trials and how there were two Groups, one of boys and the others of girls. He explained that the trials are building a blueprint. He droned on and on about killzones being activated and the mapping of resultant patterns. He added that WICKED stands for "World In Catastrophe, Killzone Experiment Department." Rat Man then told them that all the hardships and obstacles they've faced thus far have been Variables.

"Some of the Variables, such as those labels you all have tattooed to your necks, were created by Elizabeth. That's right, she has all of her memories and knows quite a bit of information as I'm sure you've noticed. So, I came up with the brilliant idea to install a sort of zapping device into her arm to prevent her from spilling any of our secrets to you all. She's been a great asset in all of this." He said mischievously.

Ellie gritted her teeth and started to breath heavily again. However, before she could scream or succumb to a panic attack, both Minho and Thomas each grabbed one of her hands to calm her down. It worked for the time being and Rat Man grinned when he noticed who her anchors were.

"Right," Rat Man continued, "Now that all of that is explained, it's time to brief you on Phase Two. One warning to keep in mind is to never believe anything you see because odds are it's part of our plan much like your little rescue and trip over on the bus."

Rat Man spoke for at least 20 more minutes explaining the sun flares and the disease called the Flare that's killing people. He added that all of the Gladers have the Flare and it took a few minutes for them to settle down before he could continue. Rat Man told them Phase Two is the called the Scorch Trials and that a cure for the Flare waits for them upon completion of the trial. He goes on to give them their instructions which are simple:

"Enter the Flat Trans when it opens at 6AM. Get everyone through in 5 minutes. Find open air and head north 100 miles to the safe haven and the cure. That's it. No rules or guidelines. Do as I say and you will be administered the cure." Rat Man concluded his speech and the forcefield fogged up allowing him to disappear before they could ask questions.

"What the shuck?" Minho asked as soon as they saw Rat Man disappeared.

"We have to do as he said. Go through the Flat Trans and head north for 100 miles. If we stay behind, I bet they have some sort of horrible death planned for us." Ellie said gravely not liking the sounds of the scorch trials at all.

"These trials get better and better," Minho muttered sarcastically earning an agreeing nod from both Newt and Thomas.

"I guess we better get Frypan to portion the rest of the food. We're going to need to save as much as we can because who knows when our next buggin' meal will be." Newt said.

Everyone nodded in agreement and got to work preparing for the next day. They had no idea what was ahead, but if WICKED was behind it they knew it was going to be difficult.

The Gladers decided to call it an early night and everyone set their watch alarms for 5:30AM so they wouldn't miss the 6AM Flat Trans.

Once everyone was in bed that night, Ellie curled herself into Minho's side and rested her cheek against his shoulder.

"Do you think we're going to survive this Min?" She whispered feeling scared about the next phase.

"Of course we are. You've got Mr. Macho as the leader," he said confidently to ease the tension.

She giggled despite the severity of their predicament, "You always know how to make me smile. Goodnight Min, I love you my Mr. Macho."

"Night Shebean. I love you too," Minho kissed her sweetly on the lips before closing his eyes.

From the bed closest to them, Newt groaned, "You two make me bloody nauseous."

 **A/N: I am SOSOSO sorry for the long wait! I know this isn't much besides a filler chapter but next up we enter the scorch! Yay! Sorry again! Life has been crazy with school starting up and leadership training programs. Hopefully I should get a schedule established within the next week or two! Thank you for following/favorites/reviews! I truly love hearing your thoughts.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** **Since today is Newt Day, I decided to post an entirely Newtmas chapter! I hope you like it! Next chapter should be up hopefully within a week, if not sooner! Enjoy :)**

After he was certain everyone else was asleep, Newt slipped out of his bed and into the common room. The endless scenarios of what was waiting on the other side of the Flat Trans tomorrow kept on running through his mind, keeping him from sleeping.

He passed Min and Ellie, cuddling together in their bed, both deep in sleep. Each adorned a soft smile on their face and Newt couldn't help but hope he had that kind of connection with someone one day.

He quietly crept into the common room and moved a bit away from the door so he could sit on the floor. Pulling his knees to his chest, Newt let out a sigh and put his hands through his hair in frustration.

Not only did he have Phase 2 to deal with, but Tommy hadn't spoken to him since their kiss the other day. He couldn't help but wonder what was the other boy thinking? Was he repulsed by Newt? Did he never want to talk to him again? Newt would much rather have Tommy as a friend than completely lose him over one simple kiss. Newt couldn't help but think that he shouldn't have gotten so wrapped up in the moment. He should've controlled himself like he's been doing since he first started feeling an attraction towards Thomas.

"Ughhh," Newt groaned and shut his eyes, hoping that would stop his mind from going down this path again. It was useless, for all he knew Thomas was still hung up on Teresa.

Newt was so distracted by his own thoughts, that he didn't notice a figure had followed him out of the dorm and was quietly approaching him. It wasn't until the person sat down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder that he noticed he wasn't alone because he nearly jumped out of his skin at the hand touching his shoulder.

"Bloody hell Tommy! Don't sneak up on a shank," Newt said once he realized who had sat down next to him. He didn't really want to do this right now, they really should be getting sleep but Newt couldn't bring himself to get up and leave.

"Sorry, I saw you sneak out." Thomas said realizing now that maybe it wasn't his best idea. He wasn't really thinking, he just kind of acted on impulse and followed him out because he was concerned about Newt, "I wanted to make sure you were okay."

Newt stared at Thomas in disbelief. They'd been avoiding each other the past 4 days and he still came out to check on him? Was it possible he was feeling the same way Newt was? No, Newt said to himself quickly shaking his head free of those kind of thoughts. He couldn't be doing this now, they had too much to worry about and adding a, what was it, a fling? An eventual relationship? Whatever it was into the mix would only increase tensions and make Phase 2 worse for both of them.

Thomas had also been lying awake, trying to gain control of his thoughts. He still had no clue what the kiss meant but he knew that he liked it, or at least he thought he did. He was honestly too shocked that day to register what he was feeling in the moment. Also, thoughts of Teresa confused him even more. What were his feelings for both of them? He certainly couldn't like them both, could he? But, Phase 2 started tomorrow and Thomas needed a clear head so he followed Newt out of the dorm purely on instinct but saw it as the perfect opportunity to talk it out with him. However, once he sat down besides Newt all thoughts left his mind because Newt just looked so frustrated and upset and Thomas knew some of that had to be his doing.

"Newt," Thomas sighed not really knowing what to say.

"Yes, Tommy?" Newt whispered back in response.

Thomas didn't say anything as Newt completely turned to face him. The minute they made eye contact, both boys blushed and were at a loss for words. Neither really knew what they were feeling but they also couldn't deny the pull they felt towards the other.

Without thinking, Thomas leaned in and kissed Newt again. He needed to see if he felt something, see if it helped clear his mind.

Newt immediately stiffened when Thomas pressed their lips together, unsure what exactly Thomas was getting at by kissing him again. Eventually, Newt melted into the kiss and started to kiss back, but then he came to senses and pulled back with a start.

After Newt pulled back and put a little distance between them, Thomas looked at him with a gazed look. He looked down self-consciously.

"Sorry," he mumbled to Newt.

Newt felt the deep blush on his cheeks and was grateful for the darkness of the common room.

"Why did you kiss me?" Newt asked quietly.

He could faintly see Thomas shrug, "I don't know Newt. I'm just so confused and thought it would help me figure out what I wanted."

"What are you confused about Tommy?" Newt gently asked, pushing Thomas to talk out what he was thinking.

"Everything?" Thomas said as a question, "I don't know. It's just, uh, that, WICKED clearly intended me to, you know, like Teresa. But, I'm not so sure I do, or at least not in the way they want me to."

Newt felt his breath get caught in his throat. What was Thomas trying to say? Could he possibly reciprocate Newt's feelings?

Thomas couldn't stand the silence that was stretching between them.

"Newt, please say something." Thomas practically begged.

"I don't know what you want me to say Tommy." Newt whispered feeling vulnerable and self-conscious.

Thomas looked just as bewildered as Newt felt. Neither said anything for a few minutes. Both were trying to work through their heads what was happening. They knew that starting anything now was a terrible idea but they also didn't want to keep avoiding the other.

"Look, Newt, I'm sorry I, uh, you know"

Newt smiled a little bit at Thomas' hesitation, it was adorable that he couldn't say the word kiss.

"You mean that we snogged?" Newt said with a bashful smile at Thomas.

Thomas returned the shy smile with a nod, "Yeah, snogged, as you like to say. I'm sorry. I should've asked if you wanted to. I was so wrapped up in trying to figure out why, I, why…" Thomas stopped mid-sentence.

Newt saw his hesitation and scooted closer to Thomas, grabbing his hand in his reassuringly. It was a gesture to encourage Thomas to continue speaking.

"I just needed to see what I felt." Thomas mumbled.

"And what did you feel?" Newt prompted him to continue while trying to ignore the way his heart was fluttering in his chest.

"I, uh," Thomas scratched the back of his neck with the hand that wasn't holding Newt's, "I'm not too sure. I'm not good at feelings, you know that Newt."

Newt let out a soft chuckle, "That seems to be a theme amongst everyone. None of us Gladers like to talk about our buggin' feelings."

Thomas chuckled with him, "Ain't that the truth."

Newt decided to put poor Thomas out of his misery, "Tommy, how about you just stop thinking about all of that tonight. Phase 2 starts tomorrow and we both need to be completely focused on the task at hand. We need to get everyone to the bloody Scorch place. We can't do that if you and I are going to be avoiding each other. It'll confuse the poor shanks."

"Sure, yeah. You're right," Thomas couldn't explain it but he thought he felt a bit of disappointment at Newt's words. Did he not actually like Thomas, in that way? Had Thomas been wrong in assuming that Newt was so certain in his feelings and who he was?

"And Tommy?"

"Yeah, Newt?" Thomas asked.

Newt swallowed and tried his best to take on a teasing tone, "How about no more snogging, or kissing, or whatever the bloody hell ya wanna call it until you figure out what's going on in that buggin' head of yours, yeah?" Newt wanted nothing more than to act on whatever this was with Thomas but he knew the younger boy still needed time to wrap his head around what he was feeling. He knew this would definitely not be their last conversation about feelings and such, but he was willing to put it on hold for the sake of making sure that everyone was united and working together going into Phase 2. There couldn't be awkwardness, especially not among them because they were looked to for guidance.

Thomas sighed in relief. He didn't want to hurt Newt but he also didn't want to start anything stupid or make a mistake because if was certain about anything it was that he cared for Newt. He needed more time to really think. Maybe he should even talk to Ellie, she seemed to be in a good relationship as far as Thomas could tell.

"Good that," Thomas said nodding and giving Newt's hand a squeeze before hesitantly letting go and running his hand through his hair so he had something to do. He realized almost immediately, he missed the reassuring feeling that came with holding Newt's hand.

"So, we're good? No awkwardness or weirdness, right? You are right Newt. We need to focus on getting everyone safely to Phase 2 tomorrow." Thomas said.

Newt nodded, "We're perfectly fine. You're still one of my best mates Tommy."

Thomas smiled at the endearment that only Newt, and occasionally Ellie though that was different, called him.

"Now, we should probably both get some sleep. I get the feeling it might be a while before we get proper beds again," Newt said standing up and waiting for Thomas to follow suit.

When Thomas stood, the two boys slowly and quietly walked back to the dorm doors in silence. Thomas kept mulling over everything that happened. He felt that he had to tell Newt that he did feel something for him and wasn't trying to mess with him.

Thomas stopped right outside the door and Newt immediately stopped walking as well and turned to fully face Thomas.

"You alright Tommy?" Newt asked, voice laced with concern.

"I'm fine. I just, uh, wanted to thank you. For being patient, and dealing with me while I figure things out. I also, just, uh, wanted to say that I did, umm, like the, uh," Thomas started to stutter terribly and felt as if his face was on fire. He knew that if it were light in the room, he would be red as a tomato.

Newt seemed to understand because he pulled Thomas into a hug. Thomas immediately relaxed into the embrace and rested his head on Newt's shoulder while he wrapped his arms tightly around Newt's waist. Newt tightened his grip on Thomas' shoulders.

"I did too, Tommy. But I think it's best we don't act on anything until we both figure things out and until we see what we're facing. And, you're welcome. I'll always be patient," Newt whispered.

"I know. I just thought it was only fair to you that you know that." Thomas whispered back.

"Now stop thinking. Like Minho said, we don't want you hurting yourself." Newt teased.

Thomas rolled his eyes and huffed, "I think I'm capable of thinking without hurting myself. You guys really are some friends."

Newt pulled back a little from the hug and looked at Thomas with a smirk, "Yes, but we are your best mates. That means you're stuck with us as long as we are still going through these trials."

Thomas rolled his eyes, "Yeah, stuck with my little sister and her sarcastic boyfriend that make lovey dovey eyes at each other when they think no one is looking. I'm going to be scarred for life if they keep it up."

Newt chuckled, "It can be cute! Let them be happy."

"Oh, I will, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop playing up the protective big brother role," Thomas said with a mischievous glint in his eye that made Newt roll his eyes.

The two separated then and opened the door to the dorm. They gave each other one last look with sheepish smiles before heading to their separate beds. Tomorrow, Newt and Thomas would try to act as normal as possible around each other even though both were now kind of aware that the other felt something. The journey ahead wouldn't be easy, especially with the added pressure of the looming Phase 2, but they would figure things out eventually and until they did, they were content with just being there for each other. So, Thomas and Newt went to sleep peacefully that night.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maze Runner**

The alarms on all the Glader's watches started to blare bright and early the next morning. Groans could be heard throughout the dormitory as the boys all struggled to wake up.

Ellie walked into the dorm full of half-awake boys and rolled her eyes. She had been awake for a half hour, deciding to take a nice long shower because who knew when she would be able to next. After glancing at her watch, Ellie noticed that they had 15 minutes to be in the common room waiting for the Flat Trans.

"Boys! Hurry up, we got 15 minutes," she shouted out as she moved towards her bed to double check her backpack of supplies. Everyone before falling asleep made makeshift bags with extra clothes and sheets. This morning Ellie did a little snooping through the drawers and managed to find a leather jacket that fit her. She put it with her stuff not knowing if she would need it for nights out in the Scorch.

The boys continued to grumble but started getting dressed. They had all agreed to wear a couple layers. Ellie turned around to make sure Minho was awake and moving and stopped dead in her tracks because he was standing right in front of her getting changed. He had pulled on his pants and boots and was standing shirtless talking with Newt and Thomas. She could see his well-defined back muscles as he stretched his arms over his head.

"I got it, Newt. I'm the shucking leader, it's what the tattoo says even though you and I both know you would make the better leader." Minho said mumbling.

Ellie shook her head and reprimanded herself for staring a second too long. They all had to be focused.

"Newt's right, Min. The others need to know that there is a clear leader to look to for instructions." Ellie commented, inserting herself into the conversation.

All three boys turned to look at her and she suddenly felt self-conscious, "Uh, sorry. Didn't mean to eavesdrop. As you were," she added and busied herself with finishing getting ready.

She had opted to wear a pair of thick black leggings, combat boots, a sports bra and royal blue tank top. She tied the hunter green sweatshirt she stole from Minho around her waist and pulled on the black leather jacket. She grabbed the scarf she found and tied it to the strap of her backpack that was packed with food.

"Ellie," Thomas called out to his sister as she turned around after eavesdropping. "Seriously, you weren't eavesdropping on anything important." He had a slight teasing tone to his voice that reminded Ellie of when they were little.

"True, I mean you guys weren't exactly being quiet. But hurry up your little gossip session, ladies. We have 10 minutes." She smirked at them all seeing the disapproval at being called ladies.

Newt nudged Minho, "You sure she isn't the leader?"

Minho rolled his eyes and shoved Newt away with a laugh. Everyone then quickly scrambled to make sure they had everything and then they waited in the common room for the Flat Trans to arrive. Minho, Ellie, Thomas and Newt stood in a cluster.

"Where did you get that leather jacket?" Minho asked Ellie.

She blushed, "It was in one of the drawers."

Thomas groaned, "Please spare me the flirting. We get it. Minho likes the jacket and Ellie's all flustered."

Newt looked at Thomas with a raised eyebrow, "Your older brotherness is showing again Tommy."

Ellie watched as Thomas blushed lightly. She then looked between Newt and Thomas as they shared a knowing smile. It was a private moment and she was definitely intruding but she didn't really care. She knew something was up between them and once things were a tad calmer she was determined to get to the bottom of it.

As their watches hit 6'oclock a shimmery portal like thing popped up in front of them. It was the Flat Trans so Minho took the lead and gave a small little pep talk explaining for everyone to stick together because he was going to do a headcount once they got through. Minho and Newt then took the front of the group with Thomas and Ellie bringing up the rear. Once all of the Gladers were through Thomas signaled for Ellie to go through first and he followed immediately after. However, once Thomas came through, he stumbled and knocked into Ellie causing a domino effect and ruining Minho's counting. They were immersed in complete darkness and everyone was grabbing the shoulder in front of them to make sure they were okay and knew where they were headed.

"Let me guess, Thomas the shank just came through and ruined my system?" Minho called out.

"You'd be right, Min! Just restart." Ellie shouted back. She turned around as best she could and reached out for Thomas as the Gladers counted themselves.

"You alright Thomas?" She whispered.

"I'm fine, Ellie. You okay?" He whispered back, giving her shoulder a comforting squeeze.

"Yupp, just still hate the dark." She said a little uneasy. Ellie had always been afraid of the dark and their current situation was doing nothing to help.

As they walked, whispers could be heard cryptically in the air. It left all of them feeling incredibly unsettled. The voice kept saying "one chance deal. Go back, now. You won't be sliced."

"Should we turn back? Maybe the creepy voice is right," Frypan's hesitant voice called out from somewhere in the middle of the pack.

"No." Minho said sternly.

They continued to walk until a high-pitched scream could be heard. Ellie felt Thomas brush past her and run towards the source of the scream. Everyone started talking amongst themselves trying to figure out what had happened.

Ellie stayed in the back, wrapping her arms protectively around herself trying to stay calm. She really hated the dark and between the whispers and the screams she could feel her anxiety levels steadily rising.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Newt's voice called out.

"Some shucking silver metal ball took off his head!" Thomas shouted back.

Frypan spoke next, "It was Frankie."

Ellie could sense shuffling ahead of her and knew that people were moving to get a better feel for the situation.

"There's only blood left," Newt said solemnly. He had navigated his way towards Tommy and the commotion and found him crouched besides Frankie's body. Where the kid's head once was, now only sat a silver ball.

"We need to keep moving, everyone keep you heads down and look out for those shucking head eating metal balls. Stay close together!" Minho called out authoritatively.

As they were walking, another person cried out. This time, it was Winston and Thomas immediately shoved his way towards the boy as the silver metal glob encased his face. Thomas and Winston worked together to peel it off. It was painful for Winston but they managed and Winston's face was left severely damaged and blistered. Newt had found Thomas and grabbed his arm pulling him forwards leaving Frypan and Jack to help Winston. Minho had briefly stopped as the events unfolded, worried, but when he heard things were okay again he began moving the group onwards.

Minho started leading the Gladers in single file forwards, hopefully away from the decapitating globs, until he bumped into something and started muttering a string of curse words.

"Min? What happened?" Ellie called out panicking as she blindly pushed her way through the others until she reached who she thought was Minho. She crouched down a bit to where she could just faintly make out a figure hunched over clutching their shin.

"I'm fine, there's just shucking stairs here I obviously couldn't see. We clearly have to climb up them," Minho said and straightened up to stand.

Ellie then reached out blindly with her hand, hitting Minho's bicep. She used that as guidance until she could grab his hand. She smiled as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze and then held on tight as they climb up the stairs together.

The others followed Minho and Ellie, gravitating towards one side of the staircase knowing that they should allow Newt and Thomas to use the other side of the staircase as a path to catch up to Minho and Ellie. Thomas held Newt's hand, clutching it as a lifeline. He was still confused as heck after last night's talk and second kiss with Newt but they had agreed no acting on emotions until they felt semi-safe and were well on their way to the safe haven. But, that didn't mean Thomas was going to let Newt out of his sight in the meantime.

Newt tugged Thomas a bit closer before they climbed the stairs, "I can't climb the stairs with you gripping the bloody life out of my hand. You know my, uh, leg slows me down."

Thomas nodded and squeezed Newt's hand once before letting go. Thomas then quickly engulfed Newt in his arms in a reassuring hug. _It was totally just a friendly gesture, right?_ Newt thought to himself. Since they were in the back of the crowd, no one had noticed the exchange or the fact that the pair was holding hands.

"Tommy, go ahead," Newt said nudging him lightly so he wouldn't wait for him to struggle.

"You sure?" Thomas asked voice full of a caring concern.

"Positive." Newt said and watched, as best he could in the dark, as Thomas ran clumsily up the stairs towards his sister and Minho. Newt then took a deep breath and gritted his teeth as he navigated up the stairs, his leg protesting the entire way. He ignored it as best he could and finally reached the others with a sigh of relief.

Ellie was immediately at Newt's side, "You okay, Newt?"

Newt nodded, "Just bloody fantastic. Did they really need to include the stairs?" He said sarcastically.

"Please, like WICKED would make anything easy for us? Come on buddy. You and I are going to take a peak outside first. I found the trap door that opens." Minho said patting his friend on the back and Newt just shrugged and followed him.

Minho took the opportunity to chat with Newt out of earshot from anyone else, "You sure you're okay Newt?"

"I'm fine, Minho. Just my buggin' leg." He said sharply.

"Right. Like I haven't noticed you and Thomas acting a bit off around each other all morning. I'll pretend I didn't notice, for now. Ready to see what's waiting for us outside?" Minho asked with fake enthusiasm as they reached the trap door in the ceiling he had found.

Instead of waiting for a response, Minho pushed the door over his head open and immediately shut it.

"Bloody hell, have we traveled to the buggin' sun?" Newt groaned and rubbed his eyes.

"What the actual shuck? How are we supposed to go out there if we're blinded by the sunlight? Those slintheads, when I get my hands on them," Minho growled.

Newt put a hand on his shoulder, "Relax, mate. We can't have our leader freaking out now can we?" Newt watched as Minho's shoulders deflated a bit, "You got this Minho. We're gonna get the others and open that latch door, telling the others to adjust to the brightness. Then we're gonna pair up and use sheets as covers, two Gladers per sheet."

"Right, the sheet will protect us from the sun. Good thinking Newt. See, this is why you should be the shucking leader." Minho muttered.

Newt took the opportunity to slap the back of Minho's head, "Ya done with the pity party?"

"Whatever, let's get the other shanks." Minho said playfully shoving Newt who rolled his eyes in response.

After the two returned to the others, they all paired up. Minho and Newt were going to go together and lead the group. Thomas and Aris would be paired in the rear. Since Ellie had a sweatshirt with a hood on it, she was going to be by herself but would stay close to Minho and Newt.

"You shanks ready?" Minho called out once everyone gathered around the door into the scorch. A few "yes'" were said and Minho threw the door back letting in the scorching hot sunlight.

Groans of protest could be heard coming from all of the Gladers as they allowed their eyes to adjust to the brutal light. The heat immediately followed the burn of the light and jackets started to come off.

Ellie took off the leather jacket and held it up as her shield against, tying the sweatshirt back around her waist.

"Alright let's move! Straight ahead are mountains just beyond a few buildings. We're going to have to pass through the buildings to get to the mountains which we will most likely have to cross in order to get to the safe haven. The mountain range is definitely not a hundred miles away so the haven should be just through them." Minho explained to them as they all slowly made their way outside.

Thomas looked at Minho with a quirked eyebrow, "And you can just measure distances with your bare eyes?"

Minho smirked, "It's one of my many talents, slinthead. Running for years in the Maze gave me quite the sense of direction and space measurement."

Thomas then turned to Ellie, "You sure you like this arrogant shank?"

Ellie rolled her eyes, "Sadly yes."

"Sadly? I'm wounded Shebean." Minho feigned being hurt.

"Don't be such a drama queen," Newt muttered pushing Minho forward, "Come on. We only have two weeks to cover so many miles. Save the flirting for later please."

"Alright grumpy pants. Let's lead the way," Minho said holding up the sheet he and Newt were sharing.

Thomas moved towards Aris and the two immediately became engrossed in a conversation about their different experiences in the Maze and what little they could remember from before.

Ellie decided to walk with Newt and Minho, holding her jacket above her head.

"So, Newt." Ellie said simply.

He turned to look at her confused, "Yes?"

"What's going on with you and Tommy? Didya talk about the snogging?" Ellie teased earning a glare and blush from Newt.

"You two are one nosey couple, did you know that?" Newt asked looking between Minho and Ellie.

Ellie beamed up at Minho from where she stood walking next to him, "We are, aren't we?"

Minho winked at her before returning his attention to Newt, "So that means you talked?"

"We are not talking about this right now, please," Newt begged them.

Minho sighed, "Fine. I'll try my best but no promises. Plus, if anything that blush of yours told us that something definitely did happen last night. Did you at least wait for all of us to be asleep?"

Newt groaned, "You're shameless sometimes, honestly."

Before anyone could get another word in, Frypan called out to everyone.

"Guys, look!" Frypan shouted pointing somewhere to the left.

Everyone looked in the direction he was pointing and watched as two figures approached them.

 **A/N: I hope you all enjoyed! Things are about to pick up from here because they are officially in the scorch! yay! I will be following the book mostly. Also, thank you sososo much to everyone that took the time to review. I love hearing your thoughts and am so happy that you seem to be enjoying it. As always, I apologize for the sometimes long waits between chapter, it's my last semester of college so things have been a bit hectic. However, I am super dedicated to this story and promise I will try to organize time into my schedule completely dedicated to writing this for you all. Thanks! Leave me thoughts :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Thank you all so much for sticking with me and my wacky updating schedule! This semester has been brutal and stressful. I've had this chapter done for a few days now but couldn't find time to edit and update. But alas here it is! I hope you all enjoy :) Please review and let me know your thoughts if you're still reading this!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Maze Runner**

Everyone stopped walking and looked in the direction Frypan had pointed to see that two figures were running directly at them.

"Do you think they could be from Group B?" Min whispered to Ellie and Newt.

Ellie shook her head, "No way. They look like they could be like those Cranks that surrounded the complex we were kept in that one day."

"That's just bloody fantastic," Newt hissed and looked nervous as the figures got closer and closer to the group of Gladers.

Thomas and Aris quickly made their way to the front of the crowd to stand besides Minho, Newt and Ellie.

"Do we know those two?" Aris asked as he approached, trying to mask the fear he was feeling.

"No, and if we did you'd be the one to recognize them. You see everyone here? This is all we got left of people we know." Minho said annoyance clear in his voice.

"It looks like there's a man and a woman," Ellie said, "are we gonna wait for them to approach us?"

"We're just going to see what they have to say. After all, there's what 20 of us and only 2 of them? I don't want it to come to anything but we are at an advantage," Minho said as he stepped forward slightly to stand in front of the group. Ellie hung back and stood next to Newt and Aris as Thomas stepped forward to stand besides Minho.

The man and woman were close and they immediately started mumbling. After a lot of back and forth conversation, the woman admitted that the pair were Cranks from the town up ahead. They spoke of the Flare and how not all Cranks were considered "Gone," the Scorch (the name for the vast landscape they were in), and mentioned seeing another Group, which could only be Group B. The two Cranks also told the Gladers they all had contracted the Flare by now and would definitely be joining them and the other sick citizens in the abandoned buildings up ahead. It left everyone feeling a bit uneasy and grossed out.

The two Cranks then turned and ran back towards the town.

"Well that was just delightful," Minho muttered once the two were out of earshot.

Ellie rolled her eyes and shoved him, "Now is not the time for sarcasm Min."

"Maybe we should follow them. I don't really see any other option," Thomas said with a shrug.

Everyone turned to look at him and agreed. Newt shrugged, "Tommy's got a point. We're headed that way anyways."

"We'll keep some distance but let them be a guide of sorts. Come on, we should keep moving. It's going to be night soon and I get the feeling we are going to be sleeping very exposed out in the open." Minho said and motioned for everyone to move onwards.

Ellie fell into step with Thomas as Newt and Minho took the lead. Aris had shrunk back to the back of the group and was talking to some of the others.

"How you holding up?" Thomas asked Ellie looking at his little sister with concern.

"I'm fine, I guess. Honestly a little exhausted and less than excited to learn what the night holds. You?" She asked.

Thomas responded with a sigh, "Same. I'm just so sick of WICKED's dumb little games. They're really messing with me, Ellie. I'm so confused about so many things it's frustrating."

Ellie reached out and grabbed her brothers' hand, "Tommy, what's going on? It might help to talk about it." She wanted her brother to open up to her and she knew talking would be the only way for him to figure things out.

"It's nothing Ellie. My stupid little problems can wait until we are all safe," Thomas said with a defeated tone.

"Stop that. You can't keep pushing aside your feelings to be the hero. Now tell me, what's really bothering you? Does it have something to do with a certain blonde with an adorable accent?" She asked in the kindest tone.

Thomas looked into his sister's big hazel eyes and saw nothing but concern and love and decided maybe it would help for him to open up to someone, no matter how much he hated talking about feelings and such.

"How'd you know?" he sighed.

"I'm your little sister and incredibly observant. I've never seen you have this much inner turmoil before plus Min and I got Newt to tell us you kissed," she smiled sheepishly at Thomas.

Thomas rolled his eyes, "No duh. You two had the biggest grins on your face the next time I saw you after that. Plus, Minho did kind of interrupt, that shank. I don't know what to do or think Ellie. Here I am going to my little sister for advice! Shouldn't it be the other way around? Aren't I supposed to be telling you stay away from boys. Yet here I am not knowing who I even like."

Ellie smiled at her brother and squeezed his hand, "It's okay to be confused Thomas. No one is expecting you to have all the answers. We are still teenagers after all. I think you need to just trust yourself, deep down you know what you want. Don't be afraid because no one here is going to judge you for your decisions. Heck, people will probably cheer if you decide you want to explore your feelings for Newt a little more. You two just have this undeniable connection and it's nothing to be ashamed of Thomas. It's completely normal what you're feeling. WICKED cannot tell you who you are allowed to like, that can only be determined by you. And what does it matter really who they are, boy or girl, so long as they make you happy and treat you well?"

Thomas blinked and looked at his baby sister stunned.

She blushed and looked down, "What?"

"My baby sis has become such a wise, caring, young woman. Who knew that little whining, talkative Kit-Kat would mature one of these days?" Thomas teased.

Ellie rolled her eyes and shoved him sideways, "Rude! I'm trying to show you that I support you and love you no matter what and you go and ruin a beautiful moment."

"Couldn't let the conversation get too serious, now could I?" Thomas asked with an amused raised eyebrow.

"Touché brother," Ellie grinned at him and the siblings laughed together. They didn't talk anymore about Thomas and Newt because Ellie knew that it was up to Thomas to figure out what it was he felt.

"What about you and Minho? Do I need to give him the big brother talk again?" Thomas asked nudging Ellie's shoulder as they continued to walk at the back of the group.

"We're great. No need for you to give him that talk, anyways I'm not sure how serious he would take it, you being best friends and all." Ellie smirked as she saw Thomas nod in agreement.

"Yeah, he could probably beat me in a fight too," Thomas paused then looked at her panicked, "don't tell him I said that!"

Ellie giggled, "No promises bro." She then winked at him and jogged up to the front of the crowd to join Minho and Newt as Aris fell into step alongside Thomas.

Minho smiled as Ellie came to a stop between him and Newt.

"How are you two doing up here?" She asked as they continued their walk towards the village.

"Just brilliant," Newt grumbled.

Ellie regarded him curiously, "What's wrong Newt?"

He sighed, "It's nothing. Just my bloody leg hurts and I don't have a good feeling about this town full of Cranks."

"It's starting to get dark out, do you think we should stop soon or just walk until we can't anymore? It might be better to sleep during the mornings when the sun is at its most brutal." Ellie said turning to address Minho.

Min nodded, "Exactly my thinking Shebean, I think power through tonight, because it is cooling down significantly so it'll make walking easier and we may be able to jog for a bit too to cover more ground."

Newt opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by a blood curdling girl scream.

Thomas came plowing through the group, "Ellie?!" He shouted frantically worried his sister was the source of the scream.

"I'm fine Thomas, that was clearly too far away to have been me," Ellie said with an amused smirk at her exhausted brother.

"Come on ya heroic shank, we got a lot of ground to cover," Minho said slapping Thomas not so lightly on the back.

Thomas straightened up just as another scream was heard.

"What in bloody hell?" Newt asked and was pointing to shack a little bit to their left.

Standing in front of the shack was a girl. She had to be the one screaming.

"Is that Teresa?" Ellie and Thomas asked at the same time and then turned to glare at each other.

Newt and Minho chuckled. "Man you sure you're not twins?" Minho teased earning a punch on the arm from Ellie.

Thomas glared at Minho and then looked back to the girl standing in front of the shack.

"I'm going to go see what she wants," He said and started to walk away.

Newt grabbed his arm effectively stopping him in his tracks, "Do you think it's a good idea for you to go alone? What if it's not Teresa? Or what if WICKED put her up to this?"

Thomas looked at Newt and saw the amount of concern in his eyes and couldn't help the flustered feeling bubbling in his stomach. He tried not to focus on it and instead averted eye contact quickly.

"I'll be fine. Someone has to see what has her screaming and its best for only one of us to be put in potential danger, not all of us." Thomas said.

Newt still hadn't let go of his arm but he noticed that Minho and Ellie had led the rest of the group a bit ahead to give them some privacy.

Newt sighed, "Tommy, it's not that I don't trust you, I just don't trust her. I know we said we wouldn't buggin' talk about, uh," Newt then gestured between the two of them uncertainly, "this until things calmed down, but I'm still going to worry about you." He paused and then blushed before quickly adding, "As my best mate. I worry about you as my best mate."

Thomas chuckled at Newt's flustered state and grabbed his hand, "Newt." The blonde looked up and met Thomas' eyes, "Relax. I've actually done a lot of thinking and talked to Ellie and I think I'm ready for us to have a talk. But first let me just make sure that no one is in danger and then you and I will chat, deal?" Thomas said with a nervous smile.

Newt squeezed the hand Thomas held, "Good that. Now go be a bloody hero yet again."

At that, Thomas grinned and leaned forward to quickly kiss Newt's cheek leaving both boys blushing. He then turned and ran off towards the shack where Teresa stood and Newt jogged to catch up with the group. He would use the jog as his excuse for why he was so pink in the cheeks.

Newt quickly caught up with Ellie who was waiting towards the back of the group. When he approached, she smirked at him.

"Have a nice chat with Tommy?"

"Hush you," Newt mumbled and tried his best to glare at her.

Ellie giggled and slung an arm around his shoulder, "That blush gives you away."

Newt rolled his eyes, "Whatever. He told me he talked to you," he said quietly.

Before Ellie could answer, Minho called for everyone to stop walking and take a seat while they waited for "the shuckface" to get back from his excursion to the screaming girl. Everyone sighed in relief at the thought of taking a break and immediately grouped up and plopped onto the ground.

Minho walked to the back and joined Ellie and Newt.

"He better make this quick. I want to cover as much ground as possible tonight." Minho grumbled.

"Look at you, Min. You're really embracing the leader role now aren't ya," Ellie said grinning at him and cuddling into his side.

He chuckled, "That's right Shebean. Gotta follow what my shucking tattoo says."

"Well at least you had a subject number and substantial label. What does Subject 0 even mean? And why 'the knowledge?' It makes me feel like I'm letting you all down right now because I have no clue what's going on at the moment." Ellie said with a sigh and leaned back on her arms away from Minho's side so she could stretch out.

"I wouldn't worry about it Ellie. It's probably just because you weren't originally meant for the trials so they never assigned you a number. And as for knowledge, well you're bloody brilliant, probably the smartest of all us so there's that." Newt said with a smile.

She smiled back, "See, this is why you are the glue. You always know what to say and how to keep everyone working as a unit."

Just then Thomas came running at the group and past everyone causing them all to scramble to stand and collect themselves before taking off after him. Minho groaned and mumbled something about hurting a shank for running without an explanation.

Ellie sprinted as fast as she could to try to catch up to her brother who had a sheer look of panic on his face.

"Thomas! Will you slow down!" She called but either he didn't hear or he ignored her and just kept running. Ellie slowed her pace knowing it was useless trying to get through to her thick-headed brother when he was in a mood. What the shuck happened with Teresa? Whatever it was, all Ellie knew was that if she ever saw that girl again she was going to give her a piece of her mind for always getting under her older brother's skin.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** **Sorry for the wait guys! College is keeping me crazy busy. I hate how long I keep you all waiting, sorry again! Hope you enjoy and please leave me a review with your thoughts, ideas, or anything! Thank you all for still following and putting up with my crazy schedule :)**

Running after Thomas for a few hours straight really left Minho feeling annoyed and disgruntled. He had sprinted after him and kept pace running alongside him as the night dragged on. Finally, Thomas seemed to be running out of steam and slowed down before stopping completely.

Minho looked behind him and noticed the distance between them and the others, so he decided now was the time to get Thomas to talk.

"You better have a good reason for making us all run through the night shank. And never do that again, take off running without explaining. I thought we were being chased by shucking Cranks or something." Minho grumbled as he stood hunched over trying to catch his breath.

Thomas looked embarrassed at Minho, "Sorry, man. It's just I was right, it was Teresa and she did not have the most pleasant information to share. Left me spooked, I won't do that again."

Minho smirked and slapped a hand on Thomas' back, "It's alright. Once the others catch up, you can explain what happened. I think it's about time we stopped and got a bit of rest now that you've completely exhausted us."

Thomas simply nodded as the others started to approach the pair one by one. As a Glader reached them and heard they were stopping for a few hours of rest they immediately sat down and embraced the break.

Newt and Frypan were the last the reach the others. Frypan sighed in joy at the thought of resting. Newt on the other hand looked uncomfortably at Thomas. He could tell instantly that something was off with the younger boy and knew that their little talk was going to be put off yet again.

As they all got as comfortable as one could in a vast wasteland of sand, Thomas began to tell them about his encounter with Teresa. He explained how she was crying, surprisingly looked clean, and started to shake, much like Gally during the changing. He then told them all how all she said was that they needed to run and keep running as far as they could.

"Is that it?" Ellie asked him when he finished, "All she did was scream at you to not go near her, cry, and then cryptically tell you to run?" Ellie was clearly unamused by Teresa's vagueness.

Minho snorted in amusement next to Ellie and Newt also smirked, both sensing her dislike for the other girl. Ellie turned to them and gave them an evil grin which caused them to laugh. When Thomas cleared his throat, they immediately sobered up and were back into serious mode.

"Yes, that's all she said. Problem, Elizabeth?" Thomas asked narrowing his eyes at his sister. She stared back at him intensely, refusing to break eye contact first.

Minho stepped between them, "Right, well I think we could all use some rest. So, sleep for a few hours even though the shucking sun is coming up soon. We won't be able to run much in sunlight so might as well save up some energy now. Alright slintheads, go to sleep!"

Ellie sensed Thomas was withholding some information and decided she would get it out of him before they all went to sleep.

"Thomas and I will take a first watch while you all get some sleep," Ellie called out to the others who nodded in response and started to doze off.

Minho looked at Ellie with raised eyebrows, "You sure, El? You need sleep to."

Ellie smiled fondly at him and sat down next to him, "I'm fine Min," she then leaned in to whisper, "He's keeping something in and I'm hoping if he thinks just the two of us are awake he'll spill what's bugging him. Once he does, you can bet I will be by your side using you as a pillow." Ellie smirked at him.

Minho rolled his eyes, "Is that why you keep me around? So you have a pillow to cuddle with and sleep on?"

Ellie kissed him briefly, "It's definitely one of the main reasons."

"And to think, I have so much more potential than simply being a pillow. What a waste of my many talents," Minho sighed dramatically.

"Don't be so dramatic. Go to sleep, babe. I'll be back as quick as possible," she said kissing him quickly once more before standing to talk to Thomas.

As she started to walk away Minho called out, "Hey Shebean?"

"Yes Mr. Macho?"

"Love you," Minho said smirking from where he was sprawled out on the ground using her backpack as a pillow.

Ellie blushed, not used to the public declarations of love, though she figured the Gladers remaining were used to them being a couple by now.

"Love you too," she said back quietly earning a few "awwwws" from the Gladers who were still awake.

"Ya'll are the cutest," Frypan cooed from where he was trying to sleep.

"Shut up and go to sleep. That's an order from your leader!" Minho called out sounding both amused and serious.

Ellie walked over to where Thomas was sitting, staring at the landscape, knees pulled into his chest. She took a seat beside him and imitated his position. It was then that she noticed Thomas wasn't staring at the landscape, but watching Newt. A few feet in front of them, Newt lay on his side, back towards them.

"Penny for your thoughts," Ellie asked quietly.

Thomas then snapped out of his thoughts and turned to look at his sister but didn't say anything. He had a defeated look in his eyes and looked incredibly lost.

Seeing his expression, Ellie's heart broke, "Oh Tommy," she said and scooted closer wrapping her arms around her brother and he leaned his head on her shoulder, "what's wrong? I thought you were ready to talk to him?"

Thomas sighed, "I was, but then, then…"

"What happened? Was it Teresa?" Ellie asked gently rubbing his back soothingly. She felt the way he tensed at her name but remained silent. Ellie took that as her cue to keep talking, "I know something else happened that you aren't telling us and that's why snapped at me when I tried to pry before in front of everyone else. I respect your privacy Thomas, I do, but you can't fight all of your battles alone. It's okay to let someone in. You'll explode if you try to keep everything bottled up inside. Talk to me, I'm your sister. We protect each other. It's what we've always done, so let me help you."

Thomas picked his head off her shoulder and looked at his hands. He had always been a fidgety person and now was no exception. His fingers were fidgeting a mile a minute.

"When I went to the shack to see what was wrong, Teresa, uh, she, kinda kissed me," Thomas whispered. Since it was dark, Ellie couldn't see the blush creeping up.

"She did what?!" Ellie exclaimed, and Thomas quickly clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Shut it, would ya? I didn't tell the others because it's not important in moving forward. I'm only telling you because I need you to help me snap out of it. I mean I was going to tell Newt I wanted to maybe try, er, us but now I just don't know."

Ellie felt a surge of empathy for her brother, "Thomas, I can't tell you what to do, it has to come from you and what you feel. What I can do is tell you that whatever you decide, I will support you. No one else knows what you're feeling except for you. Deep down, who is it you think you feel more than friendship towards?"

Thomas looked utterly perplexed as he continued to look at where Newt slept. When he thought about his kisses with Newt and the one he just had with Teresa, he couldn't help but feel dread at the thought of telling Newt what happened.

"I'm going to have to tell him, aren't I?" Thomas whispered.

Ellie reached out and grabbed his hand, "Yes you are. But Newt is one of the most understanding guys. Can I suggest one thing?"

Thomas hummed in response.

"Don't keep him waiting too long. He may have a heart of gold but he's still only a teenager like you and I. Does that mean you decided you want to give Newt a real chance? No Teresa?" Ellie asked sincerely.

"I think so," Thomas began but was cut off.

"You can't think so, Thomas. You have to know so. Don't string him along if you're going to just change your mind next time we bump into Teresa again!" Ellie argued.

Thomas groaned in frustration, "Why are you on his side? Did you not just say you would support me no matter what?"

"I did, but Newt is also one of my best friends and if you string him along only to disregard him next time Teresa tries to stake a claim over you, I will have some choice words with you Tommy. I mean it," Ellie said seriously.

"I know, I know," Thomas sighed in resignation, "You're right. Maybe I shouldn't decide just yet."

Ellie sighed, "Thomas, be honest, when you think of falling asleep wrapped protectively in someone's arms who is that? When you think about holding someone's hand as you get scared who is it? How about when you're excited about something, who's the first person you want to run to?"

A moment of silence passed over the siblings as Thomas contemplated the questions his sister asked him. Only one name popped into his head for all of the questions and he knew what that meant.

"I'm scared Ellie," Thomas quietly admitted.

"That's totally understandable, Thomas. Like I said to you once before, if it's that you're afraid of the others' reactions, don't be."

Thomas shook his head, "It's not that. I'm scared that I try this with Newt and it goes completely wrong because of this stupid Trial, because of WICKED, because of my fears and insecurities every time we run into Teresa. I don't want to lose him Elizabeth and I'd rather have him as my friend than to not have him at all."

Ellie turned to completely face Thomas and he followed suit staring intently into her eyes as she spoke, "Those are all valid fears. I had similar ones when I first met Min again in the maze. But, sometimes you must take those risks to see where they lead. You might find it's the best decision you ever made, and you get to fall in love with your best friend and explore new territory with them. You'll never know what potential the two of you have if you never give it a chance. Plus, with these trials and WICKED, a week together isn't guaranteed. Dive head first into this and I doubt you will regret it. I've seen you two interact and you share a special bond that is incomparable."

Thomas smiled shyly breaking eye contact to glance at Newt who was moving in his sleep. Ellie observed as her brother's eyes softened; she knew she was finally getting through to him.

"Thanks, Kit Kat." Thomas said, using her old childhood nickname from before WICKED.

"No problem, bro. Someone's got to get through the thick head of yours somehow." Ellie teased shoving him lightly.

He rolled his eyes but pulled her into his arms in a bear hug. He kissed the top of her head, "Love ya sis."

Ellie smiled into the hug, "Love you too, Thomas."

"And if you tell anyone about this sentimental moment, I'll completely deny it." Thomas said with a smirk.

"I would expect nothing less from dear shank of a brother," Ellie smirked right back and stood up, "Now, I'm going to go to sleep cuddling my boyfriend, because who knows what crazy obstacles are coming our way. I recommend having that chat with Newt sooner rather than later. Goodnight Thomas," Ellie gave him one last hug and then quietly made her way over to Minho's sleeping form.

She crouched down next to Minho and slowly put her head on his chest. She straightened her left arm down and tangled her fingers together with Minho's right hand causing the boy to stir.

"I take it the chat went well?"

Ellie looked up and saw him peering down at her with a soft, sleepy smile, "It did. He's hopefully figured everything out. Sorry, didn't mean to wake you up."

"You didn't," Minho said as he shifted them to get more comfortable, wrapping an arm around her to pull her closer into his side.

"Goodnight, Min. I love you," Ellie said lifting her head slightly to meet his lips.

Minho smiled, "Love you too, El. Night." Ellie then relaxed against his chest and drifted off to sleep knowing that for now, she was safe in Minho's arms.

Meanwhile, Thomas was slowly making his way to where Newt slept fitfully. He sat down next to him and lightly shook the blonde.

"Newt," he whispered.

The blonde in question slowly opened his eyes and blinked the sleep out of them. He then caught sight of Thomas peering over him and sat up.

"Tommy? You okay?" He asked, voice croaking from sleep.

Thomas nodded, "Yeah, sorry, uh, I just wanted to talk to you but didn't want to wait until morning."

Newt rubbed his eyes and sat up fully, giving Thomas his full attention.

"Right, well I'm awake now, so let's chat," Newt said and Thomas nodded in agreement. He took a deep breath and prepared himself.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: An update! How crazy?! I am so sorry for waiting a bit over a month before updating and I hate giving excuses but there was a lot going on and times were tough. BUT I have officially finished up at my university! Woohooo and now should have more time to write** **Seeing all the trailers for Death Cure have gotten me inspired again so I hope you stick with me! As always, thanks for reading and sticking with me!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Maze Runner**

Thomas was slowly making his way to where Newt slept fitfully. He sat down next to him and lightly shook the blonde.

"Newt," he whispered.

The blonde in question slowly opened his eyes and blinked the sleep out of them. He then caught sight of Thomas peering over him and sat up.

"Tommy? You okay?" He asked, voice croaking from sleep.

Thomas nodded, "Yeah, sorry, uh, I just wanted to talk to you but didn't want to wait until morning."

Newt rubbed his eyes and sat up fully, giving Thomas his full attention.

"Right, well I'm awake now, so let's chat," Newt said and Thomas nodded in agreement. He took a deep breath and prepared himself.

Thomas kept his gaze fixed downwards on his hands, not wanting to look Newt in the eyes.

"Tommy, what is it? You woke me up to talk so spit it out," Newt teased half-heartedly because he was still trying to wake up.

Thomas rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "Um, you know what we talked about? Right before coming out here?"

Newt nodded but stayed silent.

"I've, uh, had a lot of time to think about it considering we literally only spend our days walking or running. And after my little run in with, er, you know, Teresa, I had a chat with Ellie and she kind of slapped some sense into me that I wasn't being entirely fair or kind to you." Thomas said still avoiding looking at Newt.

"Okay?" Newt responded not sure if he liked where this was going.

"And I need to be honest with you. When I ran into Teresa, you see, um, well, she kind of kissed me," Thomas paused and spared a glance to see Newt looking upset and annoyed.

"You woke me up to tell me that? Well, I hope you and your bloody girlfriend are happy together," Newt grumbled and went to roll over facing away from Thomas, but Thomas reached out and grabbed his shoulder effectively stopping him.

"That's not why I woke you up. Sorry, I realize that probably didn't come out sounding right," Thomas said with a blush on his cheeks.

"No, it didn't." Newt said, stoic as ever.

"Right, moving on. Ellie made me realize I've been the biggest shank to you and you don't deserve that. So, I wanted to apologize for making you wait and stringing you along and all of that. I was being selfish,"

"Yeah, you were," Newt interrupted.

Thomas blushed more and nodded, "You're right. I'm sorry, Newt. But after my encounter with Teresa my first thoughts were about you and how you'd be upset when you found out. What I'm trying to say is, I want to give us a try Newt. You know I'm not good with words, so this is hard for me to say but I like you, Newt but I'm also terrified of ruining our friendship." Thomas whispered the last part, hating the vulnerability he felt.

Newt reached out and placed a hand on Thomas' shoulder, "Thank you for being honest with me Tommy." Newt watched as Thomas started to smile and felt guilty for what he was about to say, "Don't get me wrong, I want nothing more than to try this out. However, how can I be sure that you're not gonna buggin' run away once Teresa shows up again? I don't know that I'd want to go through that Tommy. Getting my hopes up, thinking it could work, just for you to run back to her next time she decides to bloody arrive."

Thomas' eyes widened in surprise at Newt's blunt honesty and he immediately started to shake his head and speak but Newt cut him off.

"Why don't we both sleep a bit more? I reckon Minho's gonna be waking us up at the bloody crack of dawn and we will have hours of walking to finish talking. Good that?" Newt asked settling back down on the floor.

"Sure, Newt." Thomas said trying not to sound too disappointed.

Newt smirked and patted the spot next to him, "Don't look so glum. I never said the talk was going to go poorly. I just need sleep before talking about something this serious. Not all of us are up for deep conversations while half asleep in the middle of the night. Now, lay down and shut your buggin' eyes."

Thomas bit back a smile and took the spot next to Newt and allowed his eyes to close. He was suddenly looking forward to the hours of walking ahead of them if it meant that he could fix things with Newt. As Thomas fell asleep, he promised himself he would prove himself worthy of the British boy sleeping next to him. Whatever it took, he would show Newt how much he cared about him.

That night, both Ellie and Thomas had fitful sleeps filled with dreams of their childhoods spent at WICKED. The siblings woke up feeling groggy and confused about what the sudden memories meant.

Minho woke up to the alarm on his watch beeping in his ear. He let out a grumble of curses and rolled onto his back to stretch, feeling the heat, he groaned and rolled onto his side to find Ellie still holding tightly to his waist, sound asleep.

"El, it's time to wake up," he whispered gently brushing her stray hairs out of her face.

Ellie mumbled, tightened her grip on Minho and stayed asleep. Sighing in defeat, Minho decided to wake up everyone else first, starting with Newt and Thomas.

Walking over to where the two were sleeping, Minho rolled his eyes. The pair were holding hands in their sleep.

"What idiots," Minho whispered to himself before crouching between both of their heads and clearing his throat loudly, "Rise and shine my favorite pair of slintheads."

Thomas and Newt both startled awake and blinked in confusion before noticing their hands and simultaneously blushing. They both then awkwardly withdrew their hands and busied themselves with "checking their bags" while Minho just shook his head amused.

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me ya shanks," Minho said with a wink and turned to walk away before turning back, "but don't expect me to keep this from Ellie. She's gonna have a field day with this, so I recommend you two talk while we walk. It's too damn hot to run so you should hear each other just fine."

Minho then walked towards the center of where the rest of the Gladers were sleeping and shouted at them to wake up. He explained that they would walk, not run, because of the overwhelming heat. Everyone grumbled about the rude wake up but gathered their things. Minho then looked towards where he left Ellie and found her still asleep.

He walked over, put her backpack on his back and shook her awake. Ellie flailed in her sleep, connecting a fist with Minho's leg.

"Jesus, shuck, El. Watch it," Minho said grumpily and helped her stand.

"Crap! I'm sorry, Min! Where did I hit?" she asked while trying to rub her eyes awake.

"Just my leg, now come on. You're the last awake and we need to cover a lot of distance if we want to make it to the city by tomorrow. Your brother thinks if we walk all day then we should definitely make it to crankville by tomorrow night." Minho explained and waved an arm gesturing for everyone to start walking in the direction of the village.

Newt and Thomas stuck to the back, while Minho and Ellie took the lead leaving Frypan, Aris and the others left to just stay between them and chat amongst themselves. Most were too weary of the warmth to chat, but Minho and Ellie were handling it alright.

"Min, it's so damn hot. I think I'm going to melt," Ellie said sighing dramatically keeping the sweatshirt tied around her waist and taking off the leather jacket leaving her in just the tank top she wore.

Minho rolled his eyes at her antics, "You were just fine yesterday El."

"I know, but it feels worse somehow today," Ellie groaned.

"So dramatic," Minho said poking her in the side. It was then that he noticed how sunburned her skin was looking and all of the freckles that appeared across her cheeks and nose and he smiled, "Looks like someone is sensitive to the sun. You might wanna put that jacket back on. You'll be red as a lobster otherwise."

Ellie glared at him, "Not funny. I bet all my freckles have made an appearance and now I look even younger."

"Well when you pout like that, you do look like an adorable grumpy toddler," Minho teased.

"Rude! How come I'm the only one getting sunburn anyway? I didn't burn in the Glade!" Ellie thought about it and then gasped and nodded her head, "Riiiiight. I forgot the Glade had artificial sunlight. How could I forget!"

Minho chuckled at her, "The genius strikes again. Now, wanna hear some juicy gossip?"

Ellie turned to him with bugged out eyes and nodded enthusiastically, "Yes! Anything to distract from the heat."

"Stop with the shucking bug eyes. As beautiful as I find them, they could get stuck like that," Minho commented with a smirk.

Ellie shoved him to the side and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Real mature, Shebean. Maybe I won't tell you now if you feel the need to be so immature," Minho said with a huff and picked up the pace.

Ellie jogged to catch up to him.

Frypan called out after them, "Woah, woah, lovebirds! I thought we agreed no shuckin' runnin'? Ya'll better slow down if you want us to keep up."

"Relax Fry. They're just being their annoyingly coupley selves. Just ignore 'em" Newt called out from where he was in the back of the group.

Ellie turned around and waved at Newt, "Newtie! How're ya?"

"I'm fine Ellie. I thought we agreed no more calling me Newtie?" Newt called back.

"I made no such promise! Have you slapped some sense into my dear brother yet?" Ellie yelled back.

Thomas blushed and frowned, "Ellie!"

"What? I'm just looking out for you, bro!"

"You don't need to yell about me for everyone to hear!" Thomas yelled at her.

"Fine, whatever. This isn't over you two!" Ellie called out and turned her attention back to Minho, "Now, what's that gossip?"

Minho grinned and grabbed her hand, "It has to do with our favorite slintheads."

Ellie gasped, "Noooo! Thomas and Newtie? What? Spill!" Ellie exclaimed quietly while squeezing Minho's hand.

"When I went to wake them up this morning, they were sleeping very close to each other and holding hands." Minho said with his signature smirk.

"It's about damn time. Like I was telling you before we went to sleep, I think I finally got through to Thomas. I told him to knock it off and quit leading Newt on because it's not fair to him. I gave him some tough love," Ellie said.

Minho nodded, "Probably what he needed to hear."

"I hope so. Do you think they're talking now? Because I doubt they both got in all they had to say last night."

Minho shrugged, "No clue. I try not to think about my two best friends getting together thank you very much."

Ellie giggled, "You're ridiculous Min."

"But you love me anyway," Minho said matter of fact.

Ellie stopped walking and pulled him into a short kiss, "Yes, I do Mr. Macho. And don't you forget it."

"Hey! I'm happy for ya'll, really, I am. But, can ya keep the smooching to when we can't all see like ya did in the Glade? I'd rather not be reminded how lonely I am surrounded by a bunch of dudes," Frypan said teasingly.

"What's wrong with all of us? Hmm?" one of the other Gladers called out.

"Nothing. I love you Gladers. Ya'll are family," Frypan said with a smile.

"Awww, Fry. Who knew you were such a big sap." Ellie called out with a giggle.

"Yeah, yeah. We all clearly have a soft side." Frypan said with an eye roll.

Thomas and Newt had been hanging towards the back of the crowd watching the exchange with amused glances.

Newt cleared his throat, "So, uh, about what you were saying last night."

Thomas interrupted, "Right, yeah, um, I really want you to believe that I'm serious about this. About giving us a real try, well as real as we can in our current predicament."

Newt chuckled at that and looked at Thomas with a raised eyebrow, "I believe you, Tommy. But you just have to know that I'm still gonna be bloody scared. One, because I have no idea what we're doing. Two, you can talk to Teresa in your buggin' head!"

Thomas shook his head fondly, "You don't have to worry about the telepathy thing. She, uh, made it clear I wasn't to reach out again. But I'm gonna prove to you that I'm serious, Newt. I swear it."

"Oh," Newt said with a teasing smirk, "And how do you imagine you'll do that Tommy?"

"Well obviously I don't have much experience either, at least none that I can remember since ya know not all of us are like Ellie and get to keep our memories," Thomas said with a hint of bitterness in his voice.

"Tommy, jealousy doesn't suit you," Newt said.

Thomas rolled his eyes, "I know. It's ridiculous that I'm slightly jealous of my little sister. But I mean come on! She gets her memories, Minho, is scientifically classified as a genius! It's not fair," Thomas shook his head then, "But we aren't talking about that. I promised to prove myself and that's what I'm going to do."

"You do that Tommy," Newt said patting his shoulder. "But I promise I believe ya. Are you also secretly a big softie like our sarcastic leader?"

Thomas shrugged, "Not nearly as sappy as he is around Ellie. Those two can be so disgustingly adorable, they'll give you cavities."

Newt laughed at that and then Thomas joined him. They both stopped walking for a minute to catch their breaths and no one seemed to notice their lagging behind the group. Thomas hesitantly checked to make sure no one was watching them before he cupped Newt's face in his hands and leaned in to give him a quick kiss on the lips.

Thomas pulled back and found Newt blushing with a surprised look on his face.

"What was that for?" Newt asked clearing his throat.

"That was me beginning to prove myself to you, Newt." Thomas said with a smug grin.

Newt blushed but bumped his shoulder as they continued walking, "Wipe that smug grin off your face. It makes you look like Minho."

The two then laughed again and caught up with the others. The rest of the walk was relatively quiet among all of the Gladers because it was just so hot out. When it hit nightfall, they had made decent progress, so Minho called for them all to stop and rest for a few hours because they would definitely be making it to the city the next day and needed to be alert for Cranks.

That night, as Thomas dreamed up more memories, he found himself holding Newt's hand again in his sleep but didn't care who saw.


End file.
